The Prisoner of Figaro
by sakuraigo3838
Summary: Terra Branford, a soldier of the Empire, is captured and brought to the castle of Figaro as a prisoner. All Edgar Roni Figaro has to do now is to keep her in his custody until their victory against the Empire is assured...NOW COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1: The Guest of Honour

**The Prisoner of Figaro**

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VI.

A/N: Hi, this is my first Final Fantasy VI fanfic. I hope you'll enjoy reading it!

P.S. This story is a 'variation' of what happened in the game. It's basically about my fantasy of what would happen if Terra was on the Empire's side and was kidnapped by Locke before she could get to the Esper. :P

Summary: Terra Branford, a soldier of the Empire, is captured and brought to the castle of Figaro as a prisoner. All Edgar Roni Figaro has to do now is to keep her in his custody until their victory against the Empire is assured. But of course, there are certain complications… Edgar x Terra, Celes x Locke and a LITTLE hint of Celes x Leo (for those of you who are really desperate for it)

* * *

Chapter 1: The Guest of Honour 

_"We've got her, we've got her!" Loud voices proclaimed, triumphant horns blared and a young king looked up from his seat on the throne. "We've got the key to winning the wa_r..._"_

* * *

"Terra, we're about to meet a king. You must defer to him, even if you don't want to. And don't even think about hurting him. Or else you'll have a whole kingdom and me to answer to," a man warned his captive. The man wore bluish-purplish clothing and around his head was a bandana. He wore earrings and on his feet were leather boots. 

"Whatever, Locke," Terra replied through her gag. She shifted slightly and the ropes that bound her wrists cut into her flesh, making her squeak. "They hurt," she said angrily. "Take them off. And why are we walking in the middle of a desert?"

"What? Can't understand you through that gag," Locke teased, then sighed at his captive's hateful glare. "Look, I'm no fool, and if you think that your looks will let you get away with this, you'll be seriously disappointed. I know that if I remove your gag and your bonds you'll kill me with magic. Besides, I was nice enough to tell you my name. Stop whining now. We're here."

The two had arrived at a large castle made of stone that cast a huge shadow over them. At the door were two guards dressed in reddish-brownish armour. Both had expectant expressions on their faces. Terra winced. Her head throbbed from the sight of the grand castle and the heat was not helping, either. She tried to close her eyes but was roughly shoved by one of the guards.

"Move it, girl. The king can't wait for you forever," the man grinned, showing yellow teeth. Too weary to even reply, Terra stumbled forward into a great, well-lit hall. At the back was a golden throne and on it was a handsome man in a blue cape and hair tied back in a braid. The king smiled smugly at Locke, who gave a mock bow.

"My king, this is Terra Branford, a soldier from the Empire. But she's not just _any_ soldier. She's the key to the Empire's _winning this war_," Locke announced, a small smile playing across his lips. The king smiled and Terra sent him a quick death glare. What an annoying smile. She thought of ways to describe the king's smile. The king's smile was like a cat that had caught a delicious fish for its dinner. No, more than that. The king's smile was the kind of smile that Kefka wore whenever he was with General Leo. Terra smiled weakly at her joke. She had always hated the minister, but who else had been kind enough to take her in when she was a baby? She had to stay faithful to Emperor Gestahl and his subordinates, no matter what. Terra was brought back to reality by the king, who had walked over to her.

"You're not pulling my leg, Locke? Because if this girl _is _the one," the king lifted his prisoner's chin. "Then this war will be ours and Gestahl will be in his grave before he knows it." At that point the king looked at Terra, and she stared straight back at him. She had to act strong and be defiant. Her head throbbed in protest, but she ignored it.

As she looked into the king's eyes, however, the girl felt a tingly sensation in her stomach that was neither pleasant nor unpleasant. Suddenly scared of the feeling Terra looked away. The sensation stopped, and she stole a quick glance at the king who had turned to her captor. Had the king caused that new feeling? Was it a power that all kings possessed? Terra thought, licking her dry lips under her gag. No wonder everyone avoided eye contact with the king when they could help it. Except Locke. Locke seemed to be immune to the king's powerful stare. Or maybe he was special, too.

"Where and how did you find Terra?" the king asked, and Locke shrugged his shoulders, grinning.

"I found her in the coal mines in Narshe. There were two guards flanking her but all I had to do was kill them and make her fall asleep. It was easy; there was a slave crown on her head (I removed that after she'd fallen asleep, of course), put the special gag on her and left. I had a little trouble getting here because of the Narshe guards, though. They thought I was her accomplice," Locke laughed. The king raised an eyebrow.

"So why have you brought her here instead of keeping her at Narshe?"

"The Narshe guards wanted to kill her. The thing is, she'd do well to join our side. So I brought her here instead." Locke spread out his hands. "If you can keep her here and persuade her to help us, we'll have an even better chance of winning. If not, just keep her here until our victory is assured."

"Ugh, thanks for giving me more to take care of, Locke. I bet you actually brought her here because you knew how I _loved _work," the king sighed, and Terra looked at him, annoyed. "I can take care of myself," she mumbled angrily. The king ignored his prisoner.

"Well, in any case, Locke, you'd better get out of here. You know, get more information. We need as much as we can get. Just having our beauty here isn't going to be enough to win the war. We're counting on you."

Locke nodded in response and grinned. "We're counting on you too, Edgar. Because if you let her escape, we're up shi-shiitake mushroom creek." Terra's captor turned away to go, then looked back. "And be careful. That gag's a special one that stops her from using magic. If you take that off, she'll turn on you and zap! You'll be bacon before you know it. The gag doesn't actually stop her from speaking." Locke chewed his nails thoughtfully. "Did you know that she fried fifty Magitek soldiers in three minutes?" Terra's heart wrenched at the information. She had killed fifty of Kefka's soldiers? When? How? And why? She wasn't that cold-hearted, was she?

"Oi, Terra, pay attention, words of wisdom are coming out of my mouth right now," Locke playfully waved a hand in front of his captive's face. "You'd better be on your guard when I'm gone or a certain king will be all over you like a wet towel."

"Locke!" the king shouted, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Get out and do what you're meant to be doing! Now!"

"Ciao!" Locke left the room and Terra suddenly felt extremely conscious of the king fuming silently behind her.

"Wh-Who are you? What do you want from me?" she asked nervously, trying to undo the ropes that bound her behind her back. "And can you stop touching me?" Terra glanced down at the finger that still touched her chin.

The king leapt back as if she had burned him. "Oh, my deepest apologies!" he exclaimed. "For not introducing myself and touching you without your permission!" the king made an exaggerated bow. "I am Edgar Roni Figaro, the king of Figaro castle! I am sure that a lady as beautiful as yourself can overlook my rudeness!"

Terra blinked, confused. What was King Edgar on about? Surely she was wasting her time listening to a lunatic? The king scowled and tutted softly to himself.

"Hm, I can't seem to charm a woman these days. I need more practice." Terra stared. What was a king doing flirting with his prisoner? At that moment the king produced a knife, and the girl's eyes widened. Terra began to back away. Her head hurt with each step I took backwards.

"Don't hurt me," Terra croaked, her voice hoarse. "Locke said that you had to keep me until the Empire lost the war, right? Not kill me! Or he'd have left me in Narshe a long time ago…"

"But I'm not going to kill you," the king smiled, and the green-haired girl wasn't sure whether to trust him or not. "Stand still; you can trust me. I won't kill you."

"Promise?" Terra backed into a wall and winced at the touch of the cool rock. A dead end.

"Not unless you promise not to run away."

"I can't guarantee that."

"Then I won't promise, either."

King Edgar advanced slowly, and Terra closed her eyes, waiting for the end. All those years of training with Kefka, lost. But the least she could do now was stay faithful to the Empire.

_Yes, that's where you __belong,_ a voice in her head spoke. _You won't have any friends, but you'll have glory…_ Terra screwed her eyes shut as tears began to spill out. "I don't want glory…" she whispered. Her eyes flew open as the king darted quickly around her and slashed at the back of her head.

Terra gasped in shock as her gag loosened and fell to the ground. Cool air rushed into her mouth. At the same time she felt the ropes that bound her wrists fall to the ground. Terra rubbed her sore wrists and stared at the king. Mixed feelings of anger and confusion grew in her.

"Why? I can kill you with one word now! Locke warned you! And you still took my gag off!" Terra exclaimed. "Do you want to die?"

King Edgar shrugged carelessly, raising his hands above his head in mock surrender. "It's unkind to keep a lady bound and gagged. And if you think I'm so foolish, punish me. I would be honoured to be killed by a powerful, beautiful lady such as yourself, and what's more, I would be able to see magic with my own two eyes!"

Terra stared, even more confused. The man who stood in front of her was doing things beyond her comprehension. Why was he so relaxed about losing his life? Why was he so reckless? Terra opened her mouth but no sound came out. Kefka wouldn't have taken a second to kill the king. So why was she having trouble?

What seemed like centuries passed before Terra closed her mouth. "Don't think I like you," she warned, ignoring the searing pains that shot through her head. The king put his hands down, still smiling as if he didn't have a care in the world. _Pig, _Terra thought bitterly. He was still alive right now because she hadn't been in the mood for killing…right? King Edgar clapped his hands and four well built, well dressed men enter the room. Terra recognised the guard who had treated her roughly among them.

"Guards, take this fine young lady to the guest room," King Edgar ordered, and all four burst out in protest.

"But, your majesty-"

"The girl-"

"Prisoner-"

"She should be in jail-"

"Terra Branford is a guest of honour," King Edgar stated firmly. "Now take her to the guest room. Have her bathed, dressed in our finest garments and down in the dining hall by eight. She shall be dining with me." Grumbling, the guards half-led, half-dragged Terra out of the throne room. The girl resigned herself to their roughness when the king called after her.

"Wait!"

The guards stopped, jerking their prisoner backwards. Terra weakly looked back to face the king, who was wearing a smug expression as always.

"Don't think you have escaped my charms just yet, my pretty."

The king sounded cheerful but Terra had caught something else in his tone. Frustration? The green-haired girl smirked to herself. At least she had managed to infuriate her captor.

* * *

"My lady, you are ready to dine with the king," the maid announced coldly and backed away, allowing Terra to see her reflection in the jewel-encrusted mirror. She gasped and whirled around, the image dazzling her. For what she saw was a beautiful, green-haired girl with her flowing tresses in a high ponytail wearing a royal blue dress and a blood-red ruby pendant around her slender neck. "I look like a princess," she breathed, fingering the jewel. She turned to her maid and curtsied. "Thank you for taking the time to help me look beautiful," she said humbly. 

"You're welcome," the maid curtsied back, her tone somewhat warmer. "I was, after all, a fashion designer once, my lady," she added, slightly cautious.

"Wow, I've always wanted to become a fashion designer, but I've been raised and trained to be a Magit-" Terra paused mid-sentence and looked sadly down at her gown. "Never mind, I guess I've said enough."

"No, please continue, it doesn't matter to me that you're a Magitek soldier, you're still Terra Branford, right?" the maid encouraged warmly, and Terra was immediately on her guard. The maid could be encouraging her to speak for more information about the Empire.

"I'm sorry, I don't feel like talking. I-I have a headache still," Terra said heatedly, glad that it was not a full lie. Her maid opened her mouth to reply but at that moment there was a knock on the door. Relieved, Terra answered the door but was surprised to find the king standing in front of her.

"Ah, Terra! How beautiful you look in that blue dress!" King Edgar smiled his charming smile. "Are you ready to come down with me now?"

Terra looked uncertainly at her maid, who smiled encouragingly and mouthed 'go on'. She cleared her throat nervously. Dining with the king of Figaro was not her way of getting rid of a headache.

"Your majesty, I am ready, but…is it alright if I pass tonight? I have a headache…"

"You just need some food in your system! Come on, take my arm and I'll lead you to the dining room!" Terra was about to protest but Edgar had already taken her arm and tucked it firmly under his own. "And if you faint, I'll be there to support you," he added with a suggestive smile. Terra groaned inwardly. He was evidently flirting with her again, but she was too tired to argue back.

As the two left the room, the maid called after Terra, "My lady, if you try to harm my king in the hopes of killing him, I'm afraid that you'll be sorely disappointed. King Edgar is the champion of technology." King Edgar laughed, his frame shaking.

"Please forgive Sheila, she's been rather silly lately," Edgar informed his guest, who didn't reply. Not saying anymore, Edgar led his guest through a corridor and down three flights of stairs. Sensing her need for rest, the king patted Terra's back comfortingly. "We're here," he whispered in her ear as he motioned for large oak doors to be opened.

Terra's headache vanished temporarily as she saw the dining hall. Although it was considerably smaller than Emperor Gestahl's, it had a warmer, friendlier air about it. Above a large square table hung a shining glass chandelier. The walls were furnished with pictures of the previous kings of Figaro and several weapons Terra had never seen before. _Maybe these were what my maid was talking about when she said that Edgar was the champion of technology, _she thought as she felt a grudging admiration for her captor.

"Please, take a seat," Edgar offered, and Terra gladly sat down on a cushioned chair. The king took a seat at the other end of the table and a salad was served. Terra was surprised, however, when the king snapped his fingers again. A waiter approached, and the king spoke softly, but loud enough for Terra to hear.

"Skip the appetizers and get to the main course. Our guest is not feeling very well and it would be unwise of me to offer her any cold foods."

"No, I'm fine, don't worry about me," Terra gave a forced smile but made no effort to stop the king. Although she hid her emotions behind a passive face, Terra felt warm, but she ignored the feeling. _Don't get too comfortable,_ she told herself. _King Edgar could be doing this to get you to betray the Empire._

"You know, you really are very pretty tonight," King Edgar remarked casually as a large plate of turkey was put on the table. A waiter approached the table and put a generous portion of turkey on the king's plate before serving his guest. Terra thanked the waiter and smiled, but she was annoyed. What was the king's aim in flirting with her? Her head throbbed and she snapped.

"_Your majesty_, what is the meaning of all this? Why do you beat about the bush? I'm afraid that I'm not in the mood for all this flirting that's going on, so please tell me what you want from me."

King Edgar calmly finished his food, chewing slowly. Terra felt that the king would never answer her demand, but he suddenly looked up, his eyes serious. The girl hesitated, unsure of whether to egg her host on or whether to tell him to forget the demand. But the king spoke, and all the playfulness in his tone was gone.

"I suppose you are right; flirting does not fit you at all," he said evenly. "So I'll tell you what I want. But I'm not going to hold you against your will; otherwise I'd be just as bad as the Empire. I want you to tell me about what the Empire is doing and about yourself."

Terra felt anger swell in her like a large balloon on the verge of exploding. "Why?" she returned calmly, but her blood boiled.

"The Empire is planning to take over the world and if we let them do that then the world will become one big wasteland," Edgar spread his palms out. "We need your help and the information to prepare for battle against the Em-"

"No! What do you take me for? Some girl who's so scared that she'll betray her own side just to please some, some…some pigheaded king? I won't tell you anything about the Empire!" Terra stood up sharply and flinched slightly at the pain that seared through her brain. "I'm leaving now, whether you like it or not." She made an attempt to walk to the door but sank to the ground. "My head…" she murmured in pain, tears threatening to spill. King Edgar walked over to his guest and slowly helped her back into her chair. When Terra had recovered, he looked at her pleadingly, but there was still a hint of a small smile.

"I shall have to be even more pigheaded then. Tell me about yourself."

"No, I won't tell you about my pa-" Terra froze in her seat, horror-stricken. Who was her family? Where did she come from? What was she the only human being who could use magic and didn't have to be artificially infused with it? In fact, what was she? She frantically turned her aching brain inside out but no answers came. She turned slowly to the king.

"What's the matter?" King Edgar asked.

"I-I can't remember a thing! No…" Terra buried her head in her hands, trying to will her headache away. "I don't even know who I am anymore…"

"What? No, that can't be! I mean…" King Edgar exclaimed in shock, then his eyes softened and Terra felt her heart skip a beat. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to be like that. It's just…I've never had to deal with amnesia before, so…ugh…" Edgar strode over to look out the window.

Terra began to worry. Now Edgar knew that she remembered nothing about her past, he would most likely dispose of her. She glumly recalled Kefka's words: "If the person is of no use to you, dispose of him!"

Ages passed before Terra could speak. "Wh-What are you going to do with me now?" she sniffed unhappily. "Are you going to kill me?"

King Edgar whipped around, his eyes wide. "No, of course not! I would never kill a beautiful lady; that would be shameful!" he exclaimed gallantly. "I'd rather you got a good night's sleep. Are you still hungry?"

Terra shook her head, and the king smiled. "I suppose you want your night's rest?" Terra nodded emphatically in spite of her headache. "Very much," she said.

"Alright, then I shall take you to your room."

Terra stared at the king, puzzled. "Why not just call your guards and get them to send me up? Or let me go by myself?" she suggested. Emperor Gestahl had always sent her up to her room alone when she was sick. The king looked at his guest and laughed.

"It's extremely impolite to send a lady to her destination alone. Plus, you are not feeling well and I would not be pleased if you passed out in my castle; I would have to wake the whole castle up to find you. Here, take my arm," King Edgar offered his arm and Terra took it. Her vision blurred for a moment and she winced. In spite of her pain the girl gave a weak smile. "I'm fine," she said.

"You must get some rest," the king said insistently, ignoring Terra and pulling her to her feet. "And I will accompany you to your room." Seeing that his guest was too tired to argue the host half-carried, half led his guest to her room. Little was said on the way to Terra's room, but the two had to stop from time to time when the girl's headache felt overwhelming.

Five long minutes passed, but the two finally reached their destination. Seeing Terra in King Edgar turned to leave, but a voice stopped him.

"King Edgar."

The king turned to face Terra and for once he realized how beautiful she really was in her royal blue gown, looking at him with confused eyes. A wisp of hair was hanging in front of her face, astray. King Edgar was strongly reminded of a lost puppy.

"What is it?" he asked, shaking his head slightly. If he fell in love with his prisoner her escape would be certain.

"Why are you helping me? Is it because of what that Locke person told you to do? Or is it because…I have special powers and information that you need?"

The king smiled, his eyes gentle and amused. Terra felt the strange, tingly sensation in her stomach for the third time, but she bravely stared into the king's blue orbs. She grudgingly admitted to herself that she liked looking into the king's deep blue eyes; she could get lost in them anytime. She then closed her eyes and opened them, concentrating on her delicate slippers. What kind of power did the king have over her? Whatever it was, she had to resist…

"None of those reasons," Terra looked up sharply in surprise, searching for some clue as to the king's feelings in his eyes, but he had turned his back to her. "My main reason is that your kind and caring personality has attracted me, and my second reason is that I enjoy your company immensely! Why would I give away such a valuable companion?" Terra blinked. What kind of answer was this? She looked at the king, who had turned back to face her, his face strangely hopeful.

"Never mind," he murmured, then sighed, clearly disappointed. "I'll just…spend my time alone. Good night." The king shut the door, leaving Terra to herself. Closing her eyes, the green-haired girl fell back on her bed, but she could not go to sleep. She opened her eyes.

She had never known that so much could happen in a day. In one day she had been kidnapped by a man called Locke, brought to a castle in the middle of a desert and met a king who said strange things every now and then. But strangest of all was the warm, tingly feeling that lingered in her stomach.

_What is this feeling? _Terra asked for what felt like the millionth time, annoyed. _And why is the king the only one who makes me feel this way? Was I put under a spell the minute I saw him? But I'm supposed to be the only one who was born with magical powers…_

* * *

"How do you like our new guest, Chadron?" King Edgar asked his chancellor. The king and his minister were in a room full of comfortable chaises. Paintings of fruit and landscapes decorated the walls and the room was lit by a lone candle. The minister sat in one of the three chaises in the room while his king eyed a painting of Figaro, his back to his subordinate. 

"She is very pretty, my king. Although she is a soldier of the Empire, she does not seem to have the cold-heartedness to go with the position and she looked like she was in great pain when I saw her. There have also been rumours that she has amnesia." Chadron said pointedly. "I don't advise your majesty, however, to become too close to our pris-our guest. But if she cannot remember a single thing, why do you still allow her to stay?"

"She is very pretty," the king mused. "She seems to have amnesia, but we need her magic powers to win the war against the Empire. I don't, however, agree with not getting too close to her. Terra is a very pretty lady, and so I must spend more time with her."

"Do what you will my king, but you must be careful. Even roses have thorns," Chadron replied coldly. King Edgar smirked at his chancellor's tone. Chadron's ancestors had been servants of his ancestors for decades, but they had always been known to be snobbish. Snobbish but good servants nevertheless, he couldn't deny that. He waved a dismissive hand at his minister.

"Of course I can take care of myself. You're dismissed now," the king nodded once and his chancellor stood up.

"Goodnight, my king."

"Goodnight, Chadron." The chancellor left the room. Brushing his finger across the yellow-orange dunes that surrounded a miniature castle that was meant to be Figaro the king closed his eyes, allowing his thoughts to wander.

Why did he really keep Terra instead of disposing her? When Chadron had asked, his answer had been reasons Terra had proposed. But what was the real reason? Was it because her beauty had really attracted him? Was he attracted by the fact that her oblivion to his flirting made her even cuter? Or maybe because her powers were really what he was after? No…The king rubbed his temples, frustrated.

He had to sort his confused mind out before disaster struck.

* * *

A/N: I don't feel particularly 'talkative' right now, so I'll just say three things. One: Merry Christmas to all! Two: Thanks for reading! And three (probably the most important of all concerning me): Please review! 


	2. Chapter 2: Escape from Figaro

Chapter 2: Escape from Figaro

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VI.

A/N: Thanks for the review! Sorry about making Terra slightly OOC, but it's definitely better than my first draft (she sounded extremely unreal and so it was hard getting her back to 'normal').

P.S.: There's also an omake at the end (for those of you who don't know what that is, it's sort of like an outtake on my chapter. I hope you'll find it enjoyable!

* * *

Terra woke up, her head pounding. Breathing hard, she closed her eyes and listened to the still night air, welcoming the wind as it gently caressed her face. Then realization set in. 

Now was the perfect opportunity for escape.

Not bothering to light a candle the girl fumbled about quietly for her hairtie. _I have to go now,_ she thought desperately. _Before anyone wakes up._ Finding her hairtie Terra tied her hair, slipped into her shoes and cautiously opened the door, peering around. The coast was clear.

Darting out of her room the girl stole down the corridor in the shadows, her feet unusually loud on the cold stone floors. Not daring to breathe Terra put her hands on her cheeks. They were stone cold, but she didn't care. _Finding the exit shouldn't be hard, _she thought. _As the guards from yesterday showed me the way from the throne room to the guest room, and Locke showed me the way from the throne room to the door. _The girl's slow, steady walk turned into a brisk but quiet pace and her brain chatted to her to lessen her fear of being seen. _Look, you're already approaching the doors to the throne room…_ Terra was so busy narrating to herself that she didn't see the dim light around the corner.

Until it was too late.

"My lady, where could you possibly be going on this fine night?" a guard growled, and Terra gasped. Her brain searched desperately for excuses.

"I-I need the, um, the to-toilet!" she squeaked, and flinched. Even a six-year old wouldn't have believed that.

"You know what, _princess_? I don't believe you," the guard sneered, exposing his yellow teeth. "Everybody knew that King Edgar was being too nice when he allowed you to stay as a guest-and now here is proof!" the guard whistled and four other guards joined him. The group advanced on their frightened prey who stood, petrified, rooted to the ground. And then the gravity of the situation made itself known to her, and she snapped.

"Fire!"

Glowing orange streaks spurted from Terra's fingertips, scorching the beard of the first guard. Yelping, he began to dance on the spot, patting his smoking beard while the others yelled and scrambled for safety. Recognising escape, Terra stumbled past her attackers to the exit, flinging the doors open. Not looking back the girl sprinted out into the cool air, gasping as the wind attacked her exposed flesh. She had forgotten that deserts could be extremely chilly at night. She ignored the pounding of her head as she stumbled across the dunes. Her only thought was to get away from Figaro.

"Wait!"

Terra looked over her shoulder and recognised the proud, tall figure of the king on a chocobo. "Go away! Leave me be!" she called back desperately, but her voice was lost in the wind. She tripped on a pebble and scrambled to get up, but her brain was screaming certain doom. There was no way she could outrun a chocobo, and the king was gaining on her. She had only one option left.

"Fire!" she screamed, turning her upper torso around so that it faced her pursuer. Once again orange-red streaks burst from her fingertips and flew straight at the king, who yelled and ducked on his mount, who squawked. Neither king nor chocobo were deterred, however, and both continued to approach Terra. The girl closed her eyes, defeated. If only she had been more discreet…

"Terra, are you alright? I saw you fall down," King Edgar said, bending down to scoop the girl up onto the chocobo. The girl wavered, unable to speak. What was the point of this charade? Sooner or later he would be sentencing her to a life-time in prison with the special gag over her mouth. Tears involuntarily trickled down her cheeks, and in the far distance she heard Kefka sneer in disgust. So weak…

"As you have probably found out, the nights are extremely cold…" King Edgar said, draping his cloak over Terra's shivering body, but she ignored him. _Such a weak, cold, pathetic little girl…_

"…you'd better not catch a cold, or you'll really get a flogging from me!"

Just a flogging? She deserved more than that for being so weak, so useless…

"Hello? Earth to Terra!" King Edgar waved a hand in front of the girl's face, and Terra was momentarily shaken out of her misery. She looked at the king wearily.

"I may as well be talking to a brick wall," the king said crossly. "Don't you know it's impolite to ignore your host?" His expression softened at the sight of Terra's tears. "You had better be crying for a good reason…" he mumbled before turning around and riding his chocobo back to Figaro.

* * *

_"Give me a good reason why you shouldn't be killed off," __Kefka__ sneered, cackling evilly as he looked at his prisoner who stood in front of him._

_Terra quivered. She wanted to run, but her legs were stuck to the ground. She was too frightened to speak. Her torturer raised an eyebrow._

_"What's the matter, __dearie__? Cat got your tongue? No matter. It's not going to be moving after I kill you, anyways."__Kefka__ advanced on his victim slowly, his pale, white, painted face glowing eerily in the dimly-lit surroundings. Terra could only watch helplessly as the minister gradually made his way to her side. Pulling a dagger out of his sleeve, __Kefka__ whispered in her ear, and her eyes widened in horror._

_"Goodnight, Terra." __Kefka__ raised the dagger and all became dark. Then a familiar voice spoke gently._

_"Come home, Terra. Come home with me…"_

Terra darted up from her sleeping position, breathing heavily. Where was she? What had happened? Oh right, the failed escape…the girl groaned and put a hand to her head as all her troubles came rushing back to her. Sighing, Terra fell back onto her bed, and her dream came back to her. She frowned, puzzled.

Ever since she was a little child Terra had had nightmares about being tortured and killed like all the other prisoners she had spied on behind statues of the Emperor. But that dream had stopped ages ago. So why was she having it now? Not only that. There was an addition to her nightmare. What was King Edgar's voice doing in her nightmare? And what did the words 'Come home' mean to her? Terra was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't notice a presence approaching her.

"Miss, wake up." For the second time Terra bolted up in her bed. She looked at her maid who regarded her coldly. "The king wants to see you."

Terra moved to stand, but her headache forced her back down. "I-I've got a headache," was all she could muster. Out of the corner of her eye she saw her maid suppress a snort of disgust.

"Please, _miss_, we've all fallen for that once. Using that excuse you tried to take advantage of the king's kindness and escape, but you failed. Who's going to trust you now?"

Terra looked at the servant in surprise. She hadn't thought that her maid could be so sharp-tongued, but she didn't blame her. With difficulty she stood up, her legs shaking. _Who will trust me now? _She thought bitterly as she put a thin blue robe on and followed the maid out of the room.

Terra was led into a small room. In the centre was a bear-skin rug and several red armchairs. There was a fireplace that looked as if it had not been used for a long time and on the mantelpiece there were many photographs. Curious, Terra examined them. The photos were of two young identical boys, both mini-versions of Edgar. _Maybe one of them is his brother, _Terra thought, placing the photo back in its respective place on the mantelpiece. She turned around in time to see the king enter, and her fear came rushing back in like a huge tidal wave. Closing the door after him the king motioned for Terra to sit. The girl obeyed, her fingers twitching nervously. She watched as the king scanned her body. But his words were not what she expected at all.

"Blue really does suit you. Why do you wear red?" the king asked, grinning lecherously. Terra felt the similar pangs of annoyance begin to affect her.

"I will wear whatever I want," she replied coldly. "And what I wear is not for you to dictate."

The king raised his hands up in mock defence. "I was merely stating my opinion," he teased. "Not trying to rule your mind."

"You better not be," Terra warned. If she managed to get the king off topic, perhaps she would live to see another day, she decided. "Because that red dress is my favourite."

The king looked thoughtful. "Yes, it's actually very revealing," he mused. "Maybe you should wear it more often. It is more…exciting, I suppose."

Terra was speechless.

"But your dress isn't what I wanted to talk about today." Terra drew her breath in sharply. She had just failed to divert the conversation. The girl looked at her feet, resigned.

"Why did you run away?"

"Why should I be loyal to Figaro when I am imprisoned within its walls?" Terra asked back, her tone firm.

"You're not a prisoner! You're a guest of honour!" Edgar exclaimed in surprise. "You are free to go about the castle as you like, but attacking my guards is a bit…much. And if you have to go out, you must have my permission."

"Why? If I am a guest of honour, surely I should be allowed to go outside the castle whenever I want?" Terra returned, confident that she had caught the king out.

"The world is a dangerous place," King Edgar said vaguely. "A lady shouldn't be out without her guardian's consent."

"And since when have you become my guardian?" Terra felt extremely annoyed. This man had some nerve, talking to her as if she was his pet chocobo! "What I do is none of your business! You've got nothing to do with my life!"

There was a slight pause in which Terra held her breath. She shouldn't have been so impertinent; now the king was going to blow his top and tell her that she was going to be executed. "Well?" she inquired her heart pounding. "What are you going to say?"

"Actually, I've got a lot to do with your life," the king said coolly. "Let me count the ways." He lifted his fingers like a young child trying to figure out two plus two.

"Oh, let me see what ludicrous reasons he comes up with…" Terra mumbled irritably under her breath. What came next, however, took her completely by surprise.

"Locke brought you here and told me to take care of you. You tried to attack my guards. You also tried to attack me and my chocobo-" (Terra snorted with laughter, it sounded so silly) "-and dined with me. Oh, and did I mention that you slept in my guest room?" Edgar looked at his guest, an eyebrow raised, and Terra ignored his disapproving look. She stared at her feet.

"Fine, so you have just about everything to do with me. So are you going to execute me now?" she muttered glumly. What else could she say?

"No, of course not!" King Edgar exclaimed, his eyebrows twitching irritably. "My lady, it's not healthy for you to worry so much about, about…" he looked at her quizzically, a mocking smile playing across his lips. "What were you worried about again?"

"Forget it," Terra replied, extremely vexed. "You're annoying to talk to, you know that?"

"Okay, okay, you're worried about being executed," the king cut in quickly. "But you shouldn't be. I'm not going to hurt a hair on your head. You see-" he paused. "-executing people doesn't really fit me. Especially not a pretty lady such as yourself."

"Y-You're not going kill me?" Terra stammered.

King Edgar opened his mouth to release a flirtatious quote, and then changed his mind. The girl was potentially dangerous; if she sent a fire spell his way he would not be able to dodge it again. "No, you're way too…ugh…valuable for that," the young king rubbed his temples. "Look, I didn't want to say that, but it's the only way you'll understand for now. The Empire may treat people as if they're merely pawns in a game, but that's not the way things should be. I-no, we-don't practice utilitarianism. We don't use people and then throw them away when they're of no more use to us. We like treating them as humans…friends."

"Who else do you refer to by 'we'?" Terra asked. Perhaps she could extract more information about the king from the Empire. There was an awkward silence in which the king paused to think and Terra held her breath. King Edgar opened his mouth to speak, and Terra's heart leaped.

Then there was a knock on the door. "Come in," the king said, and Terra detected a hint of relief in his voice. She bit back her disappointment and focussed her attention on the well-dressed man at the door.

"My king, Kefka is waiting outside. I have no idea what he wants to talk to you about-"

"Thank you, Chadron, you may go. I'll deal with Kefka." Terra's heart skipped a beat. Could Kefka be visiting because he knew she was here?

"Let me go with you-" she began, but the king held up his hand, smiling at his guest.

"Absolutely not. You'll be safer here than with Kefka, believe me. I can take care of this alone. Why don't you stew on our little conversation for now?" without another word the king turned and with an extravagant whirl of his cloak he disappeared, leaving Terra alone in the room. Taking the king's advice the girl began to replay their private conversation over in her head.

_"We like to treat people as…friends." _Terra was puzzled. "Friends?" she knew the word but to her it felt like she didn't. "Friends…" the word had acquired a new meaning to it. She licked her dry lips and shook her head furiously, berating herself. Who cared about the sentimental ways of the enemy? She had to get out of the castle and join Kefka. But what if she got caught again? Surely the king would not be able to forgive her for a second time. _Forgive me, Emperor __Gestahl. _Terra closed her eyes and leant back in her armchair. _But I won't be able to escape…for now._

* * *

King Edgar observed the two soldiers of the Empire before scanning his visitor with distaste. Although Figaro was allies with the Empire he still loathed the minister's pretentious, painted, over-confident face. He smiled gallantly, but deep inside he feared. Visits from the Empire usually meant bad news. 

"Kefka, what a pleasant surprise! What brings you to my humble abode on such a fine day?" he asked animatedly and watched as the minister's already-ugly features distorted. Kefka spat on the ground and Edgar suppressed a shudder. He had to get his servants to scrub that particular spot before Kefka's enzymes began to dissolve the hard stone floor.

"Don't play goody-goody with me, _Edgar_," Kefka jeered, pressing his face close to the king's. "We've heard that you've been housing a certain girl, and we want her. Now."

"Why, I have no idea what you're talking about," King Edgar laughed nervously. "Girls come in and out all day. How could I possibly keep track of them all unless I stood at the door twenty-four seven?" There was a ring of truth to his words, but Kefka was sceptic nonetheless.

"Don't lie to me, Edgar. Who knows what'll happen to Figaro if you refuse to obey our orders?" Kefka cackled. "Now give me the girl or you'll sorely regret it! Or do you need time to think it over? Okay, I'll give you a day. If you haven't made up your mind by then…Figaro it is…" with an evil laugh Kefka beckoned to the soldiers flanking him and the trio left as suddenly as they had come. King Edgar watched them leave, seemingly proud, but when they were out of sight he turned and walked slowly towards his throne, his brow creased with worry. "Oh, what life would be like if I were Sabin," he muttered somewhat enviously. "I shouldn't have been so nice…"

"Edgar!" a familiar voice called, and the king whipped around to see a man with a bandana run in. His smile was fleeting as he saw his friend's expression. "What's wrong?"

"Get Terra, now; it's urgent," Locke panted. "I overheard your conversation with Kefka, and if my calculations are right, we've no time to lose."

* * *

"Hi Terra. Missed me?" Locke grinned deviously at the girl. The three were in a room where everything was red-red walls, red carpeting, red sofas, red everything. King Edgar and Locke lounged on the comfortable sofas but Terra chose to sit on the soft carpet. 

"Nice meeting you again," Terra returned drily. "And I suppose I have missed you. The king has been most…coy." Edgar shot the girl a dirty look while Locke laughed.

"Well, anyhow…first of all, as you just found out, there've been rumours of you keeping Terra here. And you also know the consequences if you don't hand her over," the treasure hunter wiped a few tears of laughter out of his eyes. Ignoring Locke the king nodded in response, all his worries showing on his face. He rubbed his temples in annoyance.

"What's the other news?"

"Word has also been going around that the esper Terr-the Empire was after in the coal mines in Narshe reacted when your guest of honour was there. It's been glowing restlessly ever since. I saw it myself, and I think-I think that maybe Terra has something to do with the esper," Locke paused dramatically and looked at Terra, who was suddenly sitting up straight with interest. "But we won't know for sure if Terra's the one the esper is reacting to unless…unless we take her there."

"I don't think that's a good idea," the king said slowly. "There's a high risk of the Empire getting Terra if she leaves this castle."

"Come on, Edgar, you've got to consider this!" Locke pleaded. "All you have to do is ensure Figaro's safety and then follow me to Narshe! If you can't protect her, I will!" the treasure hunter flexed his muscles.

"Who said I couldn't protect Terra? I'm just worried that Kefka will come tomorrow-Figaro's alliance-"

"Just come out into the open! Here's your chance to tell the truth!" Locke imitated Edgar's voice, and Terra's ears perked up. She could tell that interesting information was going to be exposed. "Kefka, Figaro is actually siding with the-"

At that point Terra's head began to roar and the girl clutched her head as agony washed over her. Her vision began to blur and she swayed dangerously, deaf to Locke's and Edgar's shouts of alarm.

Suddenly a strange creature she had never seen before appeared before Terra. It had a dragon's head and a lion's lower torso. Its body was bright red. The creature stared at her with bright yellow eyes, and to her surprise, began to talk. _"You belong to us, and yet you do not. I sense a great confusion in you. Perhaps I could help you find out more about your past…"_ The image of the creature began to fade away. Terra tried to call out but her lips would not move.

Terra's world turned black and she collapsed to the ground.

* * *

"Girl…headache…unfit…Figaro…certain doom…" Terra moaned softly as she gradually came to. The pain in her head had receded to a dull throb and she rolled over on her side, suddenly quite awake. She strained her ears; she could hear Edgar and Locke talking but could only hear snippets of their conversation. The words, however, were enough for her to get the gist of their talk. 

"Figaro…safe…mode…Chadron…Terra…Narshe…immediately…" Locke was pleading with the king. A new voice entered the conversation, and Terra frowned. She identified the voice to be the servant who had rudely interrupted Edgar about Kefka's visit.

"My king…Narshe…immediately…Figaro…fine…" the voice said, and King Edgar spoke. He had, however, lowered his voice, and Terra lay in her bed, annoyed. Why did something important have to happen when something new was about to be revealed? _But I'll soon find out what their decision is, _Terra decided. She did not have to wait long for she soon heard her bedroom door open and three pairs of feet enter. One of them bent over her; she could hear the man breathing.

"Terra-" a surprisingly loud voice whispered into her ear. Squeaking with surprise Terra accidentally released her magic. A huge fire bolt shot out of the blankets and nearly decapitated the king who fell back, stunned, into the arms of a hysterical Locke. The servant, who stood a considerable distance away in the shadows, tutted.

"Most disgraceful, my king."

King Edgar leapt up from Locke's arms and brushed himself. "Terra, if you want to have a long-lasting relationship, you must never scare men away!" he exclaimed exasperatedly. Terra couldn't help but smile. Caught unawares by a fire bolt obviously wasn't the king's way of impressing his servants. Her happiness, however, was short-lived as her headache came back. Terra swayed in her bed and Edgar, quickly brushing imaginary dust off his cloak, hurried to her side. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly. "Locke, I don't think Terra can handle the journey in her condition-"

"No, honestly, I'll be fine. Really," Terra cut in quickly, ignoring the warnings her body sent her. "So, when do we leave?" she asked sweetly, suppressing a grimace of pain.

"My dear minister, fill her in on the details," Edgar waved at his minister, and Terra looked at him. The man cleared his throat.

"I am Chadron Rusiko, minister of King Edgar Roni Figaro, fourteenth descendant of King Ungarn Rokestar Figaro, son of-"

"Just get on with it!" Edgar snapped, blushing slightly. "I asked you to give her details about the journey, not my whole family tree! How many times do we have to go through this?"

Chadron gave his superior a somewhat annoyed look before speaking. "The king and the thief-"

"Treasure hunter!" Locke roared, but Chadron continued as if he had not been interrupted.

"- plan to bring my lady to Narshe, the coal mines city to see the esper. They believe that you are the only one who can make it react, and they also believe that your powers have something to do with the esper."

"So…when do we leave?" Terra asked again, her heart pounding with excitement.

"As soon as possible, preferably now," Edgar replied. "The Empire could come at any moment, but if Kefka keeps his word, tomorrow afternoon. We have to leave before then, and Figaro castle will-um-go into hiding."

"You can hide a whole castle?" Terra stared. "And if the Empire are here now, what will you do?"

"I've got things sorted out. Trust me," Edgar knelt by the bedside and looked into Terra's eyes, but Terra quickly broke the eye contact. She didn't want the tingly feeling in her stomach to come back again.

"Let's go now, then," she murmured. "I'll be alright."

Edgar stood up and turned to Chadron, his face serious. "Chadron, prepare three chocobos for us and get Terra a cloak. In case there's a sandstorm," he winked at Terra who blinked.

"…"

Edgar sighed, resigned. "Forget what I said."

"Hey, what about me?" Locke suddenly exclaimed indignantly. "I don't have a cloak!"

"Ugh, Chadron, get Locke a cloak, too, if you please!" Edgar called after the chancellor. "And get me my auto crossbow, while you're at it!"

"Everything will be ready in no time, my king," Chadron promised.

True to his word, all supplies were ready and waiting for the king and his travellers by the time they had reached the front door. Donning the red cloak that Chadron had given her Terra mounted her chocobo. She stroked its surprisingly smooth yellow feathers and looked, pleased, at Locke who was pulling his hand protectors on. "These chocobos are really a nice change from the Magitek armour-they're not metal-cold when you mount them!"

"You have no idea how wrong that last bit sounded…" Edgar mumbled, but Terra ignored him. She was all eyes and ears for Locke, who was mounting his chocobo.

"Is it really bad being in one of those things? I'm glad I'm not you; I'd hate to have to be in Magitek armour…" the treasure hunter shuddered.

"It's not that bad, actually," Terra mused. "After the engines are warmed up you can do just about anything. And there are some pretty handy fight techniques available, too, like fire beam, thunder beam-"

"And how many people have you decimated with those scraps of metal?" Locke snapped, and then quickly put his hand to his head, closing his eyes. "Sorry, I just…never mind. Forget what I said," he finished quickly before turning towards the door. The king immediately spurred his chocobo to join Terra, who stared, confused, at Locke.

"Don't worry about Locke; he hates the Empire for several reasons," King Edgar said loudly before lowering his voice. "Are you flirting with him?"

Terra was about to object strongly but temptation got the better of her. Years of living with a crazed maniac who looked like a clown, she thought. "Of course, even you should be able to tell when a girl is…what was it? Flirting," she smiled sweetly at the king whose face seemed to turn the slightest hue of green.

"Why? I'm rich, cheerful and good-looking!" the king demanded. Terra couldn't help but laughed. The response was obvious.

"But Locke's polite," Terra giggled. She made a move to leave the king, but he stopped her.

"So you do know how to flirt, after all," Edgar grinned mischievously, and Terra was extremely annoyed.

"Only when I feel the man's worth it," she snapped.

"Hey, _your majesty_! Can we leave now?" Locke called up ahead, and the king nodded furiously.

"Of course! Go ahead and give the order to open the gates!"

Turning to face forward on her steed Terra watched as the heavy oak gates were opened. Bright sunlight flooded in, almost blinding her. But wait; what were the dark figures standing in the desert? Terra squinted and almost gasped in shock.

"Hello, Edgar! Are you on your way to Vector with our precious Terra? We certainly hope you are," Kefka cackled. On either side of him were two large Magitek machines. Locke eyed them, a strange large smile spreading on his face. Edgar stepped in front of his companions, the wind blowing his cloak and hair. Terra gazed in wonder at the proud figure of the man in front of her and her stomach began to tingle again. The girl was sorely tempted to punch herself in the stomach. What was wrong with her? How could the king cast his spells on her when he had his back to her?

"Kefka, we were actually on our way to Narshe," the king shouted. "I'm not going to keep this pretence up anymore. We, Figaro, are siding with the Returners and will continue to do so until the Empire collapses, and I will shout it to the world." The king lifted his voice. "We, Figaro, are siding with the Returners and will continue to do so until the Empire's defeat!" From the castle came loud cheers and shouts, and Terra felt her blood run cold. Traitors!

"Terra, what's wrong? Kill these little twerps! Use your magic!" Kefka laughed evilly. "Why are you hesitating now? Have the traitors' ways made you soft as a marshmallow? Well then-" the minister gestured towards the Magitek machines, "-kill these useless rats and ruin their precious little castle! Uwee-hee-hee!"

At that moment Terra felt like a statue. How could Kefka treat her like a traitor? Years of pent-up fury began to unleash itself and she screamed as images of her life as a Magitek soldier flashed before her eyes.

"Fire!" bright orange flames burst from her fingertips and engulfed the two Magitek machines, licking greedily at the metal. Not waiting for the enemy to recover Edgar produced a strong, sturdy-looking redwood bow and shot several steel arrows into the mass.

"Sink the castle!" he shouted, and almost immediately the castle began to sink. From the top of a turret Terra saw Chadron standing proudly. "Long live Figaro and its king!" the minister proclaimed before retreating into the cool depths of the castle. Kefka watched in shock and disbelief. He was so distracted that he did not notice a certain thief snatch two potions from his pocket. When even the turrets had disappeared under the sand Kefka turned to Terra, his pale face even whiter with rage.

"We, the Empire, have raised you all your life, and this is how you repay us?" Kefka shrieked, his high-pitched voice filling the air as he watched his Magitek machines slowly melt. "And after all these years, you've shown us what you've become-a traitor!" the minister swished his green-red cloak. "Stupid artillery, totally useless," he hissed angrily. "I'll be back-and then you'll wish you'd never joined the Returners!" with a cackle Kefka disappeared as suddenly as he'd come.

Silence filled the air as the wind cooled the burning flames. Black, tarred metal was all that remained of the machines, and Terra shivered. "I'm cold," she whispered, and her head seared with pain. Locke put a comforting arm around her.

"I know how you're feeling, but we have to leave. You're not a traitor; Kefka hurt your feelings and made you feel like a low-life. But you're not. You're one of us now," he murmured into her ear. "The Empire could come anytime-and now you know that they'll be looking to kill you, too."

Terra bit her lip, fighting back her tears. "So we're going to Narshe now?" she whispered.

Edgar looked out into the distance, and for once he felt like turning around, running to his bedroom and diving under the warm, comfortable covers. But it was too late for that now. He sighed. "We're going to Narshe."

_

* * *

Omake_

_Edgar stood up and turned to Chadron, his face serious. "Chadron, prepare three __chocobos__ for us and get Terra a cloak. In case there's a sandstorm," he winked at Terra who blinked. _

_"…"_

_"Darn it, I've had enough of trying to use subtle methods to seduce clueless girls!" Edgar cursed. "Forget what that stupid flirting book says! I'm hot, I'm rich, and I'm bringing sexy back! So, how about a ride on my __chocobo__?" the king patted his __chocobo__. "There's always room for two!"_

_Terra stared. "Um, Edgar, why are you looking at Locke?"_

_There was an awkward pause. The king sank from his chocobo onto the floor in despair, his head in his hands. "Oh gods," he moaned. "My secret has been revealed!"_

* * *

A/N: Another long, long chapter. I hope Terra's more 'in-character' now. I also hope that there'll be more reviews. I'm really grateful if you've been an avid reader of my story, but it wouldn't hurt to leave a review or two! Constructive criticism is also welcome. 


	3. Chapter 3: On the Road to Narshe

Chapter 3: On the Road to Narshe

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VI.

A/N: Yay, more reviews! And yes, I am happy because Final Fantasy VI is shared with all those other fandoms…ahem…so the reviews are much appreciated. And happy New Year to all!

* * *

_"You're not a traitor. You're one of us now…" _Terra couldn't help but play Locke's words over and over in her head. The fact that she was one of the Returners now was strange; she had been a Magitek soldier for years. She stole a glance at the treasure hunter who rode ahead, never taking his eyes off the road. What road? The Figaro desert was fairly large-it seemed to stretch on forever, and if not for the king knowing his way around, they would have died. All of a sudden Edgar stopped and Terra nearly collided into him. 

"We'll have to stop for the night now," the king announced, jumping off his chocobo and taking out the food supplies and tents. Locke wheeled around in protest.

"Come on Edgar, we have to reach Narshe as soon as possible. What if Kefka…the soldiers…Terra…?"

"We can't ride on like this, and there's an oasis nearby. Even if we aren't tired, our steeds will be. Plus, Terra still has a headache, don't you?" the king turned and looked expectantly at the girl.

"It's not that bad now…really; you don't have to worry about me…" Terra mumbled, embarrassed. "I can go on if you want." The girl spoke the truth; her headache had faded away, leaving a dull throb.

"But what about our poor chocobos?" Edgar cried, determined to turn in. "And as Sabin used to say, 'you can't wage war on an empty stomach'!" he patted the food supplies and Locke grunted reluctantly. "Alright, let's camp down for the night," he said grudgingly.

* * *

"That was good food," Locke said happily, patting his stomach. "And boy am I stuffed!" he added, grinning happily at the king. 

"There's a lot more left; at this rate we shouldn't have to ration the food," Edgar replied as he washed the pots and pans in the cool oasis. Terra watched him sullenly, her spoon still in her mouth. The king looked up and grinned mischievously.

"Terra, I know I'm handsome but could you please look away? You're just the slightest bit unnerving, especially with that spoon in your mouth. Give it to me." The girl stared and frowned before extracting the utensil from her mouth and hurling it at the king. The spoon, however, missed its target and sank into the water with a loud 'sploosh'.

"What was that for?" Edgar cursed as he struggled to maintain his balance. He was on the verge of slipping into the water.

Terra raised an eyebrow. "Should I give you that extra little push?"

"No, no, I'm quite fine thanks…whew!" The king managed to plant both feet firmly on the ground. "But you didn't have to do that; now I have to look for the spoon!"

"No regrets," Terra replied coolly, watching Locke chuckle out of the corner of her eye. "As long as you find it, we're okay."

"And if I can't?"

"You can jump into the oasis and drown for all I care!" Terra snapped, but inside she felt happy and content. Watching the king suffer was one of her favourite hobbies, she decided as the subject of her thoughts plunged his arm into the freezing water, cursing, and withdrew an innocent-looking spoon.

"In any case, we should turn in early. Early to rise, early to bed!" Locke whistled to himself cheerfully. "Edgar, are you going to do the dishes all day like a woman? Ahem," he cleared his throat nervously as both Terra and Edgar glared at him. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going to turn in right now. Goodnight!" Without another word the thief disappeared into his tent. Edgar gestured to Terra. "Are you coming?" the girl shook her head.

"No, I'll stay up a little longer." With this the king whirled around.

"I suppose I'll leave you to your thoughts. Or do you need a companion?"

"Well…if you want," Terra conceded, and the king joined her without hesitation. The two sat in silence for a moment before Edgar broke the ice.

"The stars are beautiful tonight," he mused.

"Yeah…do you think they really tell us our destinies?" Terra asked curiously. The king shrugged.

"Most believe that they do, but I don't. Technology is improving these days. Who needs to rely on the stars for guidance when all they really need is proof? But I do admit, your powers-" the king put his hand on top of Terra's. "-were perhaps sent by the stars, if by nothing else. And you shouldn't be afraid to use them-as long as you think you're using them for the right causes."

"But how will I know?" Terra said softly, looking at her hands. "Because of Kefka and that slave crown he put on me, I don't even remember my past anymore. And how would I know what's right and what's wrong?"

"It's a gut feeling," Edgar replied. "Just like love," he looked at Terra, and to his surprise, she didn't reply.

After a while she spoke, and her words shocked the king. "What's love?"

"You don't know what love is?" he exclaimed, and then panicked slightly when Terra looked at him, close to tears. "Don't cry!" he said. "Look, dry those tears-I'll get something to help you wipe them away-"

"Don't bother, I'm not crying," Terra's voice shook, but her tone was firm. "I'll be fine, honest. I'm just…a little tired." A pure lie. Terra pretended to rub her eyes.

"Maybe you should get some sleep then…"

"No, I'm sick and tired of patiently waiting for answers and not getting them," Terra carefully withdrew her hand out from under Edgar's. "And I want them now." She looked the king square in the eye, ignoring the tingly sensation that started in her stomach. "So what's love?"

"Love-I can't really explain it," King Edgar said. "Look, I know that's not a sufficient answer for you, but I probably can't feel it, either. I've been flirting with too many girls to know what love really is," he added quickly at the sight of Terra's cold stare. "You're just going to have to-find out for yourself."

"But what would your definition be?" Terra pressed.

"When a man cares deeply for a woman, and uh…vice-versa?" Edgar shrugged carelessly. "But I do know that it comes in all sorts of forms-like mother-child love, husband-wife love, brother-love, sister-love…and a lot more. I wouldn't be able to list all of them."

"Wow," Terra murmured. "There are all sorts of love…and I still haven't been able to feel any of it."

"Friend-love?" Edgar suggested. "I'm pretty sure you've come across that one. Where you care about someone so much that you're willing to give up your life for that person?"

There was a pause. "No," Terra said finally. "Not even that…" she looked contemplatively up at the night sky. "But if I did have to um…love…someone right now…I suppose that would be…Locke."

"Oh," Edgar said, his heart dropping a little. "Because he's polite?" he asked teasingly, hiding his slight disappointment.

"He's polite and he's nice…" Terra trailed off. "That's all."

"You little liar!" Edgar roared, and Terra looked at him, startled.

"What?"

"You do love him! Not to the point of dying for him, but that's friend love, alright!" Edgar grinned triumphantly and Terra stared.

"Huh? But the way you described love, I thought it would be more…more…special."

"That's when you really care about someone to the point of dying for him," Edgar said, grinning from ear to ear. "Why do you think I'm so social with women? I need to find that girl."

"It has to be a girl?"

"Yeah, of course! But a man for you," Edgar said quickly. "I am not going to have Locke nag at me forever if you loved another girl _that way_." The king looked up at the sky again, smiling to himself. Terra was suddenly full of questions, and it was hard for her to decide which one to ask her companion first.

"What is it like, being a king?" she blurted out at last. Edgar looked at her in surprise.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Just curious."

"We-ell…" the king spread his hands out. "You're in a pretty powerful position, but it's not all luxury and extravagance! You have to look out for the kingdom when it's in danger, and everything depends on your decision. That's why I was reluctant to bring you to Narshe. I was afraid that…that…that the Empire would capture you."

"But that was before Kefka considered me a traitor! If you'd stayed in Figaro, I would've still been a Magitek soldier!" Terra exclaimed. Edgar looked at her coldly.

"Did you like being a Magitek soldier?"

Terra was taken aback by the question. "It's the only life I know…" she muttered weakly. "I don't know how to be…anything else."

"That's why the stars dictated that you be taken to Narshe!" Edgar exclaimed. "Then you'd be able to see how rotten the Empire's been through all of this, and that you'll learn how to live other lifestyles!"

Terra looked at the king strangely. "Didn't you just say that you didn't believe in the stars?"

Edgar chuckled sheepishly. He had to salvage his reputation. "No, you're just imagining things! You must be getting tired," he insisted, carefully picking Terra up and carrying her bridal-style to her tent. He set her down. "You should get some sleep; we're going to have an early start tomorrow, and it wouldn't do if we had an exhausted lady holding us back," he said cheerfully.

"Well, I suppose my headache is sort of coming back," the girl admitted grudgingly. "Good night," and with that Terra crawled into her tent. Alone, the king sighed and stared up at the stars. So much had happened in the past two days, and he wasn't any closer to finding the answers he sought.

"What effect did keeping Terra have on my kingdom?" he muttered. "What effect does it have on me?"

* * *

_"Don't bother talking, traitor. We're over and done with," __Kefka__ cackled as he looked at his prisoner shivering in a corner._

_"No! __Kefka__, please, I was just careless! Nothing of the sort will ever happen again," Terra pleaded desperately. _

_"I said, don't talk! Or I will make your life shorter by three seconds," __Kefka__ disappeared and then reappeared at Terra's side, a long sword in his hand. "But it wouldn't matter to you, would it?" he whispered and raised the long sword…_

"Morning sunshine!" Terra opened her eyes, taken by surprise, and came short of sending a fire bolt shooting through the roof of her tent. She bolted up, glaring, at the king, who smiled his most charming smile in response.

"I was wise enough to stay a few feet back this time," he said, and Terra rolled her eyes, ignoring the dull throb of her head as she did so.

"Whatever, I'm out of here," and without another word the girl was out of her tent. She sniffed the air and to her pleasure smelled fried eggs. "Nice smell," she commented as she saw Locke.

The thief's only reaction was to grunt and continue his cooking. He looked up in surprise as he heard chocobo footsteps.

"Hey, Edgar, look! This guy could be our source of information, our pawn…" Locke grinned deviously as he watched the man riding his chocobo across the desert. The king's head snapped up immediately.

"What was that last bit you said?"

"Our pawn?"

"Oh," the king smiled, relieved. "I thought you said-"

Terra groaned. "We know what you thought he said."

"Morning!" Locke shouted at the man on the chocobo, ignoring his companions. "How are you this fine desert morning?"

The man approached the camp. He had blond hair and strange, green eyes. He wore bronze armour and a cloak. Terra's blood ran cold, but she didn't say anything.

"Morning, comrades! I'm journeying on my way to South Figaro, but I seem to have gotten lost. Do you know a way from here…?" the man asked in gravelly tones.

"Of course! My friends and I know this place very well; there's a cave north of here. Once you reach the exit, go east and you'll see another cave which will lead straight to South Figaro," Locke said, smiling, but Terra sensed that his smile was forced. She looked at the thief curiously.

"So, where have you come from?" Locke asked casually.

"I'm a merchant from Maranda. Took a boat to get to South Figaro, and it turns out I read the signs wrong. So now I'm in the middle of a stinking desert," the man sniffed disdainfully. "Need any supplies?" he asked hopefully, but Edgar pushed past Locke.

"What exactly has been going on with the Empire?" he hissed quietly. "I heard they tried to attack Figaro! Isn't Figaro their ally?"

The man's expression turned wary. "Ye-es, but apparently Figaro was trying to house a girl with special abilities, and they also confessed that they were with the Returners," the man replied, not taking his eyes off Terra, who shivered slightly despite the heat. They were on dangerous ground.

"Has the Empire made any other moves?" Edgar pressed on persistently, and Locke shot him a warning look.

"I heard that they took over Doma," the merchant replied dutifully. "And they're planning on taking over Narshe."

"But Narshe is neutral! They can't just take over a city that's sitting on the fence, so to speak! What if Narshe was planning on joining their side?" Terra protested. The man looked at her coldly.

"Well, that's what the Empire intends to do," the merchant shrugged carelessly. "And as far as I know, Narshe isn't planning on joining the Empire anytime soon." He looked at Edgar, who cleared his throat loudly.

"And where, my friend, have you managed to obtain such valuable information?" Edgar asked with a charming smile. The merchant froze on his chocobo for a moment.

"V-Valuable sources; they shouldn't be named. At least, it wouldn't be in my place to do so," the merchant stammered, then warmed as the king gave him four hundred gil.

"Here's for your trouble," King Edgar said cheerfully, pretending not to notice the man's relieved look. "And we should be off. Good luck getting to South Figaro!" Not bothering to reply the man kicked his chocobo's sides and sped off towards the north. When he was out of sight Edgar laughed long and hard, but Locke was suddenly still and sullen. Terra approached him softly. She knew that something was wrong.

"Locke, is something the matter?" she asked gently, putting a hand on his shoulder.

The thief whirled around, his eyes blazing with anger, and Terra saw a hint of betrayal in them. "You knew," he whispered accusingly. The girl was taken aback.

"Knew what?"

"That that man was an Imperial soldier. You said it yourself. You've been a Magitek soldier all your life. So how can you not recognise one of your own kind?" the thief hissed.

"B-But, if I revealed him, you wouldn't have been able to get your information!" Terra protested to no avail.

"She's got a point there," Edgar sounded amused, but his face was straight.

"Then we'd just get it out by force!" Locke shouted, ignoring the king. "Where do your loyalties lie? To the Returners or to the Empire?"

"Well, if I didn't reveal him, you should have! If you were so willing to beat him down!" Terra cried. Locke was about to respond but Edgar cut in.

"Look, the last thing we need on a journey like this is arguments. Drop it, Locke. Stop bothering Terra." Snorting disgustedly Locke mounted his chocobo and strode off, not waiting for his companions who trudged some distance behind.

"What was that about?" Terra whispered to Edgar miserably. "If I revealed him, he would reveal me; I knew he recognised me. I didn't know what to do…it was so strange. Imperial soldiers don't usually travel alone."

Edgar sighed and looked at the back of his friend. "Maybe there are a whole horde of Imperial soldiers hiding somewhere, keeping an eye on him."

"But why didn't they ambush us? Why did they give us such valuable information?"

"Who knows…it's not in Kefka's nature to sit and wait..." the king trailed off. "Do you have any ideas?"

Terra shuddered. "Maybe Kefka sent that soldier because he actually _wanted _us to go to Narshe. Perhaps he's got something even worse in store for us."

"But we can't go back to Figaro; we have to get to Narshe as soon as possible," Edgar said before smiling a little. "Locke gave the soldier completely wrong directions to South Figaro."

"Not like he was going to go there," Terra said. "What's with him, anyway? Why is he suddenly so unreasonable?" she looked sadly at the thief who strode ahead, not looking back once.

"Locke's past wasn't a happy one, but it's not in my place to tell you about it," the king replied. "He's hated the Empire ever since. But I agree, he was a little harsh with you. I'll talk to him about it later."

"Thanks," Terra sighed, relieved. Hopefully Locke would be able to see her side of things. "I didn't want to cause trouble, in case the man would call troops over when I revealed him," she added bravely. King Edgar nodded, seemingly preoccupied.

"Yes, yes. But we need to get to Narshe as soon as possible. In fact, if we don't stop, we could get there by late afternoon."

Terra nodded and looked ahead, watching the heat waves as they seemed to flicker in the strong wind that began to blow. Hopefully Kefka didn't have anything nasty planned for them…

* * *

"He did what? And without my knowledge?" a woman exclaimed. The woman wore yellow-orange armour and a flowing blue cloak that had the Empire's emblem on it. On her feet she wore boots and in her long, blonde, flowing hair she had hairclips. The messenger she was addressing quivered. The woman was well known for her sudden temper tantrums. 

"G-General Celes, minister Kefka gave the order to poison the citizens of Doma."

"That Kefka…" Celes Chère paced the room angrily. "Where was Leo?" she demanded, whipping around to face the messenger.

"H-He had just l-left on Emperor Gestahl's orders, General."

"And yet I'm sure that I warned the soldiers not to hand Kefka the poison. What about that?"

"General Celes, you know what minister Kefka is like," the messenger said, pleading. "If we didn't obey his orders, he would have had us killed on the spot!"

"Is there anything else?"

"Apparently there were some casualties on our side due to a warrior of Doma. They say that the warrior was the only survivor. He managed to escape," the messenger replied dutifully, lowering his head.

"Alright, you're dismissed," Celes said with a wave of her hand. As the messenger left the general guise disappeared. With a soft sigh she sank down into a chair, her head in her hands. Her eyes remained dry, but in her heart she cried for all the innocent lives lost in Doma.

At that moment the general's head snapped up. What was all the meaning of this? If the large numbers of casualties continued, soon there would be no fertile, peaceful, good land for Emperor Gestahl to rule! _This war is meaningless, _Celes thought, and her brain began to offer all sorts of other suggestions. The emperor was most likely not going to listen to her, what with his precious minister whispering evil words into his ear. Maybe the only solution was to run away and help the Returners. She quickly threw what little belongings she had into a knapsack. But she still had one more duty to perform. The general rose from her desk and walked to the door.

General Leo had to know about the events.

* * *

"So, are you coming with me?" Celes asked when she had finished telling her colleague about Doma. General Leo sipped his wine, frowning, his eyes sorrowful. The man wore green armour and a cloak similar to Celes'. His blond hair was cropped and he had eyes that showed understanding and care. 

"I regret the fact that Kefka was extremely unreasonable, but I cannot go with you," the man said at last, putting his glass of wine down. Celes' eyes widened.

"General Leo-"

"I know that the Empire has does horrible things all the time, but I hope to change that. Because of that reason I continue to stay here."

"But Emperor Gestahl will never listen to you, not with Kefka whispering poisonous, evil words into his ear!" Celes cried, shifting her knapsack from one shoulder to the other. She kept one hand on her trusty rune blade. "The only way to get the Empire to stop their tomfoolery is to defeat them! And that means joining the Return-"

"Celes!" General Leo exclaimed, rising from his desk. "Don't talk like that. Are you saying that we should betray the Empire?"

The lady general kept her eyes firmly planted on the man in front of her. "Yes, if you want to think of it like that."

"Then I'm sorry, I can't go with you. But if you still insist on going, I will not let any word of your leaving escape my lips. They are, so to speak, sealed." General Leo sat down again. "I could, after all, be wrong, and my hopes void. We will only know what's best if one of us tries different things. And that one will have to be you, Celes."

The lady general's face became passive. "Goodbye then, General Leo. I do hope that there will be no bloodshed and that you will be able to persuade the Emperor."

"Indeed. And may good luck be with you, that you will not be smote when you face the Returners," the man returned. General Celes smiled bitterly.

"You sound so pretentious. Just say 'killed' instead of 'smote'," she stated.

The general smiled wearily. "May you have more time to read the ancient texts of the espers. When you do I am sure that your language will become more sophisticated."

Celes left General Leo's room and hurried out of Vector without looking back.When she was safely away from the castle, a lone tear trickled down her cheek.

"Goodbye, General Leo. I'll miss you."

* * *

_Omake__ 1:_

_"Love-I can't really explain it," King Edgar said. "Look, I know that's not a sufficient answer for you, but I've probably been flirting with too many girls to know what love really is," he added quickly at the sight of Terra's cold stare._

_"__You mean, looking for prospects?" Terra corrected._

_"Prospects?__ I don't quite get you," Edgar smiled, but his heart was beating hard. _

_"You know. You want people to witness your love for Locke," Terra explained._

_"…"_

_

* * *

Omake__ 2: _

_"In any case, we should turn in early. Early to rise, early to bed!" Locke whistled to himself cheerfully._

_"Makes a man healthy, but socially dead!" Edgar added, and Terra doubled up with laughter._

_"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it!" the king protested as Locke glared at him._

"_And if you continue to talk, you will be socially dead!" The thief snapped, disappearing into his tent. Edgar glanced at Terra._

_"But that doesn't make any sense..."_

* * *

A/N: I came up with two omakes, but I couldn't decide which one was better, so I just put both in (and I got the 'socially dead' bit from Animaniacs). Thanks for reading and happy New Year again! You'd really give me a great start to the year, too, if you could so kindly take the trouble to click on the button in the lower left and click 'review'. Once again, it'd be nice if you could tell me how to improve the story. :D 


	4. Chapter 4: Unexpected Twists and Turns

Chapter 4: Unexpected Twists and Turns

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VI.

A/N: Thanks for the review! Again, sorry I couldn't capture Celes the first time round-hopefully that'll improve!

* * *

And a warning to those who have not played Final Fantasy VI or are still playing it: SPOILERS (alright, I should have warned you in the first chapter, but still!)

* * *

_The warrior__ stumbled past the green landscape, his __brow and well-toned muscles glistening with sweat. The birds sang their sweet songs to him as he passed, but his mind was too full of anger and sorrow to register them. On his blue armour were stains of crimson red blood. Not his blood, though. The blood of the Imperial soldiers'.__ His path was blocked off by a tree. He hacked at it angrily until if fell, leaving the path clear for him. Rabbits and other small wild-life forms scrambled hastily away from him, sensing the angry vibes he radiated. There was only one thought in his mind._

_He had to get to Vector and kill __Kefka. __No, not just __Kefka. __The whole Empire._

* * *

"General Celes!" The woman stopped in her tracks, frowning. "Where are you headed?" She had been caught by the Imperial troop that had been dispatched to find out more about the Returners' plans. 

"I'm going to Narshe," she announced coldly. "To help the Returners."

There were loud protests and exclamations. Finally, the leader of the troop spoke. "How dare you betray Emperor Gestahl? You know that he is the one that will triumph and not that group of…of…_lowly rebels_!"

"Be quiet, or you will regret speaking your mind," Celes said softly, one hand on her sword.

"Traitor! Kill her!"

The former Magitek knight whipped around, drawing her rune blade out of its sheath in a flash. She landed quick but heavy blows on the soldiers that attempted to assault her, then performed a somersault, locating the confused leader in the mass of wounded, groaning soldiers.

"Blizzard!"

A thin streak of blue shot out from the general's fingertips and hit the leader's chest. Spitting blood, the Imperial leader was hurled to the ground and lay there, unconscious. Landing neatly, Celes spoke to the remaining soldiers, who quivered in fear and awe.

"Tell Kefka that until he rectifies his evil ways I will help the Returners." Sheathing her rune blade Celes strode proudly away from the injured soldiers.

_"You should have left some of them unwounded so that they would be able to help the injured ones," _an inner voice in Celes' mind spoke, and the general shook her head.

"What's the point of showing mercy to the weak? They're useless to the world," Celes said aloud to herself before resuming her journey to Narshe.

* * *

"Locke. Hey, Locke!" The thief turned coldly around to see Edgar catching up to him on his chocobo. Part of him wanted to gallop the rest of the way to Narshe and not confront the king about his argument with Terra, but the other part of him told him to stay. And so he stayed. After all, the king might want to say something else. 

"What is it?" he asked, putting on a fake smile. "We're really close to Narshe now."

"I'm aware of that, and chances are, we're going to be in for a big battle. But we're not going to win if we're having disputes on our side. Listen, I need to talk to you about Terra." Locke sighed and scratched his head. The part that had told him to run away laughed, but he pushed his thoughts away. He knew very well that running away did not solve matters.

"Alright, I didn't mean to be like that to Terra. I just…Rachel…"

"I understand. But you still need to talk to her. She's actually really hurt because of the way you treated her," Edgar bent closer and whispered in Locke's ear. "You know the three things women want to hear most: 'I'm sorry', 'You were right', and 'I love you'." The king backed away, grinning, and Locke scowled.

"Look, I'm not some lovesick lecher who's just two-timed my wife. I just want to be friends with Terra again."

"If you say so," the king shrugged cheerfully. "And if you treat her badly again, you're going to have me to deal with. And it won't be a pretty sight."

"Hey, you're not Sabin," Locke held both his hands up in mock surrender. "I don't have to worry about huge muscle-heads coming to get me."

"Wait until I tell Sabin you said that," Edgar said, then jerked his head in Terra's direction. "Go on Locke, tell her you're sorry."

"Gee, stop acting like my conscience," Locke joked, then rode off to join the green-haired girl's side. He cleared his throat awkwardly and Terra looked up curiously from her steed. She saw the thief and looked sadly away again.

"I-I'm sorry I-uh-my temper…look, I'm just sorry I let my temper get in the way!" Locke blurted out clumsily.

"It's okay. I'm sorry I didn't reveal the soldier-"

"No, it's not your fault, you were right; if you'd revealed the soldier, the whole group hiding behind the rocks would have attacked us," Locke interrupted. Terra's eyes widened.

"You saw them?"

"Yeah, and one of them sneezed," Locke chuckled nervously and Terra couldn't help but giggle. From a distance a certain king grinned. Without knowing it Locke had said two of the things women loved to hear most.

"You heard him sneeze?"

"Nah, just saw his body convulse," Locke laughed, his heart at ease, then grew solemn. "Look, I need to tell you something, so that the next time I blow up, you'll know why."

"Anger management problems?" Terra teased. Locke grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "No!" he suddenly let go of her as if she had burned him and shook his head.

"Better get this over and done with," he mumbled, took a deep breath and started. "When I was in Kohlingen, I knew a girl called Rachel. We spent just about every day with each other. I really liked her, so on her birthday I organised a trip to the caves to look for a legendary treasure. Just the two of us."

"That's sweet, but you can stop if you don't feel comfortable with what you're telling me," Terra said warily, but Locke plunged on.

"So we went to the caves, and I was walking on a bridge…it began shaking…she…pushed me off the bridge in time…" Locke's sentences became disjointed. "...she fell instead…lost her memory……her parents were angry…I was banned from seeing her..."

"Locke…" Terra looked at him sadly, but she couldn't help wanting to know more. "What happened then?"

The thief took another deep breath and gave the green-haired girl a brief smile. "I went away for a year, but when I came back I found…she'd been killed. By the Empire. And the last thing she said was…my name."

Terra touched Locke's arm. "I'm sorry," she said gently.

"She remembered me! I should have stayed by her side, no matter what! Now I can't protect her. In fact, why should I? I wasn't even ready to protect her. I failed Rachel…" Locke looked down at his chocobo, his bangs hiding his face.

"No, I think that you were great. You just did what you thought was best for her. I know it's probably not in my place to say, but-"

"But nothing! Just consider it water under the bridge," Locke interjected quickly, flashing a smile at Terra. "I'll be fine-but like I said-if I blow up when someone mentions the Empire, just so you know…"

Terra didn't know what to say. She watched awkwardly as Locke rode off and Edgar took his place. The two travelled in companionable silence for a while.

"Well, now you know," Edgar said at last. "Why Locke was so uptight back then."

"I didn't know that he was unhappy," Terra said miserably. "Locke was always so cheerful and nice and kind…I didn't think that he was really lonely inside."

"We all like to hide our true emotions," Edgar mused. "I suppose one can never judge a book by its cover." _Oh, how true my words are! _The king thought bitterly. _How I wish I really knew why I kept Terra in the first place instead of killing her as all my subjects wanted…_

"Edgar! Earth to the king of Figaro! We're here!" Locke tapped the king sharply back to reality with one hand and gestured wildly at their destination with another. Terra flinched at her memories before taking another look at the city.

The first time she had visited Narshe it had been a fruitless attempt to capture an esper. But now she was here to protect it and see it, and she gazed at the city with newfound wonder. Narshe was a peaceful city, and children ran to and fro, laughing merrily. A few men discussed the prices of armour while merchants called out to passers-by, advertising their wares.

"Narshe is a beautiful place," she breathed, but no one was listening to her. Both Edgar and Locke had their eyes on a man with a wild yellow beard. He was talking angrily to two Narshe guards who stood blocking the entrance to the city with firm, hard eyes.

"Listen, if you just cast me away, you'll regret it! The Empire is bound to attack Narshe anytime soon, so let me speak to the Elder!" the man snarled, but he was shoved roughly away by one of the guards who laughed.

"Hey, don't do that!" Locke jumped in front of the guards angrily. "Banon is right! You have no idea how close you are to being run down by Kefka and his evil men!"

"How would you know? Where's the proof? Narshe is a neutral city; we're not siding with you Returners, so why would the Empire have reason to attack us?"

"Because you have the esper they want," Edgar replied strongly, stepping forward to back his friend. "And they also want this girl here," he gestured towards Terra, who froze.

"Bad idea," she muttered under her breath, and slowly backed away.

"Ho, Stanley, isn't that the girl who killed a few of our companions trying to _capture_ the esper?" the first guard sneered. "Just let that woman go back to wherever she came from. Even less reason to join you. Why are you with this girl?" the guards' focus turned back to Edgar.

"She isn't a bad person; she was under the spell of a slave crown!" Edgar roared, losing his patience. "You have to prepare for battle right now; the Empire is coming to attack you!"

"He's right," Terra whirled around to face a woman with a cold, hard stare. She had appeared out of nowhere. "Celes…?" she whispered, almost unbelieving. Locke's jaw dropped; could he be dreaming?

"Hey, aren't you a Magitek knight? You're Celes Chère!" the yellow-bearded man called Banon exclaimed.

"But I'm not here to attack you; I'm here to help," Celes said quickly. "The Empire is coming this very minute, and I'm sick of its conquering methods. They're just evil and blind to their ways. Let me help in this battle."

"Why should we trust you, if you've recently betrayed your precious Empire?" one guard sneered. "You've just come here looking for death, so now you're going to get it."

Celes looked firmly at the Narshe guards, her eyes burning with the desire to retaliate, but her words expressed completely different thoughts. "I suppose I must die, if that's how you'll have it. But I must impress on you the fact that the Empire is going to attack."

"I must impress on you the fact that the Empire is going to attack," the guard called Stanley mimicked in a sing-song voice. "And what if you're not really a traitor but someone who's going to give us false information? What if your real goal is to confuse our city with false alarms?"

"Then you will suffer the consequences," Celes replied icily. "I can only tell you what the Empire is going to do. Whether you choose to help yourself or not is another thing."

"Insolent wench! Throw her into the prison! The Elder can decide what to do with her later," Stanley ordered.

"No, wait, you can't do that!" Locke suddenly shouted, throwing himself in between the advancing guards and the general. He looked at both sides, embarrassed, as they stared at him, and shuffled his feet. "She's right; the Empire is going to attack," he finished rather lamely.

"But what if you're all together in this? It would be best for Narshe if you were all thrown into prison." All of a sudden Stanley felt a hand on his shoulder and whipped around. The man who had touched him was an old man with a wizened face and a long, white beard.

"And when was it your place to decide the city's affairs?" the Elder asked, smiling at Stanley. The guard lowered his eyes and began to mumble, but the Elder ignored him. He looked at the Returners and Celes, who stood awkwardly at the side.

"I believe you all. Yes, even though you're a general, your story seems to coincide with that of the Returners," the Elder said. "I was listening just around the corner…and yes, Narshe must take precautions, even if it is a false alarm."

"We must take this conversation elsewhere-someone could be spying on us," Celes lowered her voice warily. "Is there a safe place…?"

"Let's take this to my house," the Elder said courteously and led the group to a large, grand white house. Terra took the brief moment to speak to the general.

"Celes! What are you doing here?" Terra asked. "I didn't think I'd see…anyone…from the Empire for a while!"

"I'm helping the Returners, why else would I be here?" Celes replied coolly.

"I thought you'd be…leading…the attack, if not…anything else," Terra stammered. The general's coolness had always put her off, and now was no exception. "I didn't think I'd get to talk to you like this again." The general made a move to follow the others but Terra stopped her.

"One more question."

"Make it quick."

"Do you know what it's like to love?"

"Are you making fun of me?" the general snapped, then strode off, somewhat indignant. Terra bit her lip. Wrong question.

* * *

"I suppose in the end we would all have had to rise up against the Empire," the Elder sighed. "How could I be so blind?"

"Don't worry, everyone was," Edgar said sympathetically. And then, under his breath, "But some were blinder than others."

"In any case, there's no time for mourning," Celes said. "We have to prepare."

"Celes is right," Locke said. "Is the esper still in the mines?'

The elder shook his head. "No, actually. We moved it to the cliffs a while ago."

Banon, who revealed himself to be the leader of the Returners stood up. "Then we should take positions there and defend. Terra, you go with Edgar and Locke, you go with our general-"

"Am I too late?" the door swung wide open and everyone jumped. At the doorway stood a huge, muscular man with blond, short hair.

"What's a second Edgar doing here?" Terra gasped, but the king jumped up from his seat with delight.

"Sabin!"

"Hullo," Sabin said huskily. Then, to the dumbfounded Terra and the laughing Locke, "I'm Edgar's twin brother."

"Oh." Terra was speechless. She felt like she was in a fairytale where strange characters randomly appeared in dire situations at the last minute offering help. She scrutinized Sabin. This man was probably the other boy in the photos she had seen in Edgar's palace.

"I heard about Figaro, how you finally came clean and your journey to Narshe. I got worried, so…I thought I'd help," Sabin explained.

"That's great! You can fight with us," the king offered. "And Sabin-this is Terra." The king gestured at the green-haired girl.

"Uh…hi," Terra smiled weakly and the man lifted a hand in greeting.

"He'll be helping us fight in the battle," Edgar said.

"I figured," Terra returned drily.

"And he'll be with us."

"You said," Terra sighed impatiently.

"Okay, let's all take our positions. The Empire could be here anytime soon. I'll tell the guards to have everybody in their houses with the doors bolted," the Elder announced. Celes looked at him pitifully.

"The houses are made mostly of wood. Knowing Kefka, he'll burn everything down. It's safer to have the villagers hiding in the mines."

"But the village is so big-" the Elder protested.

"Well, it certainly won't be if you allow the citizens to stay in their houses," Celes snapped. "This is war, and _no one _shows mercy. Especially not Kefka."

"You know what? Our famous lady general is right again," Banon mused. "Edgar, did Kefka try to burn your castle down by any chance?"

The king grimaced. "No, but he was about to."

"Exactly. We'll need to evacuate all the villagers. We might have to clean a lot up afterwards but at least no one will be hurt," Locke agreed.

"Alright, we should stop discussing. We have to take our positions now," Banon ordered.

"I'll move the people," the Elder said, trembling slightly. "With a little cooperation, we'll have them all in the mines in no time."

* * *

Ten minutes later all the preparations were made. All that was left now was for the warriors to take their positions. As they marched quickly through the mines and past the villagers who peered curiously at them, Edgar seized the moment to talk to Celes, who walked in front. 

"Don't think Locke likes you. He's just against killing women. As a matter of fact, so am I. But I-"

"If you're about to say something that'll make a normal girl's heart melt, it won't work with me. I'm not some lovesick girl," Celes broke in. Edgar sighed.

"Never mind, then." He had been saying those words a lot lately.

"Terra, Edgar, Sabin, you're all attacking. Locke and Celes will stay back to protect the esper. Everyone clear?" Banon scanned his small but determined group somewhat proudly. "Although our numbers our small-"

"Unbelievably so," Locke joked, but the Returners leader ignored him.

"-we should be able to win this battle, what with our skills."

"I'll smash that Kefka into the ground with a blitz or two!" Sabin yelled, and everyone stared at him.

"Is that…what is it?" Locke blinked.

"It's an attack, of course! I've just mastered it! Hopefully my training as a monk has not gone to waste," Sabin replied, winking.

"Nah, it's your brain that's gone to waste," Edgar mumbled, and his twin brother glared at him. The king smiled. "Just joking!" The Returners leader hushed his fighters and paused, frowning. "Are those war horns I hear?"

If the war horns were terrifying, the spine-chilling cackle that followed it was even more so. Fifty soldiers stood on the other side of the battleground-to-be, Kefka's pale face distinct among them. Terra spotted a large black beast and she trembled slightly. She jumped as she felt a hand touch her shoulder, and looked at the king.

"Don't be afraid; they've underestimated us. They thought that they could take the esper with fifty odd soldiers, but it seems like they're about to be proven wrong," Edgar smiled comfortingly, and Terra's heart leapt slightly. She looked away.

"I-I'm not afraid," she muttered angrily. At that moment Kefka screamed.

"Kill them! Kill them all! Even our little general Celes and our precious Terra! We'll make mince-meat out of them! Uwee-hee-hee!" With the minister's orders the soldiers lifted their swords and ran to attack, spreading out so that their attackers would not be able to pass without a single fight. The group suddenly found themselves in the heat of battle.

"Auto crossbow!" Edgar shot four arrows from his crossbow and two men fell, stunned. On the king's left Terra gracefully darted around her enemies, cutting each one down with lightning-fast slashes while Sabin knocked his foes down with punches and kicks. Behind the trio Locke stole several items while Celes made ice statues when her partner was done. The men were no match for them. A few feet away Kefka watched the battle, his face growing unbelievable whiter with rage. He made a strange gesture in the air and the beast that Terra had seen before the battle came forth. All the other soldiers backed away as the monster came onto the battlefield. Celes shouted something but nobody heard her.

"Fire!" Terra yelled, and fire bolts flew at the monster, singing its fur. The large beast reared in pain, its rider cursing. Recovering quickly, however, the rider surprised the green-haired girl.

"Thunder!" Terra was hit by a lightning bolt and flew backwards, dazed. Lightning currents danced around her body.

"Terra!" Edgar yelled, dodging another thunderbolt. But the girl was already scrambling to her feet, a little blood trickling on the side of her mouth.

"Oh dear, time to bring the heavy artillery out," Sabin grinned, then his face turned serious. "Raging fist!" Launching himself at the monster the monk injured the beast with several punches that were too fast for the eye to see. Roaring in pain, the beast stomped wildly about, its rider hollering in vain. The beast, however, was beyond its limit and fell to the ground with a thud. Not wasting any time Sabin kicked its rider, deeming him unconscious. The trio looked at Kefka, who was fuming. Celes made a move to join her comrades but Locke stopped her.

"We still have to guard the esper," the thief said.

"But I know his weaknesses better than the others-"

"No! Stay back, we need you here. Terra, Sabin and Edgar will be fine," Locke assured the general as he kicked a soldier who was just coming to. On the other side of the battlefield Kefka laughed.

"Of course they'll be fine! And soon your little esper will be fine in a capsule in my-that is to say, Emperor Gestahl's-laboratory! Uwee-hee-hee!" Sabin gritted his teeth.

"Enough said, you little shrimp! Raging fist!" Kefka was thrown to the floor, but he was suddenly up on his feet, his eyes filled with hatred.

"Annoying little pests! I'll burn you all to a crisp! Fire!" Using her shield Terra blocked the fire. "No, no, you keep it," the green-haired girl said sweetly. "Fire!"

"Ouch!" Kefka patted his burning sleeves and rolled on the ground, his eyes unbelieving and angry. He stood up, brushing himself. "I'll be back, and then you'll regret burning me!" He cried, and vanished as suddenly as he had come.

"Are you all okay?" Celes called to the weary fighters. Terra smiled, relieved. They were safe for now.

"Yeah, but Terra's a little injured. We'll have to-"

"No, I can heal her. Cure!" Little sparkles surrounded the girl, healing the parts where the lightning had hit her. Celes smiled, winking at Terra. "Good as new!" she exclaimed, and Edgar stared.

"You can do magic, too?"

"I'm a Magitek knight. All Magitek knights have to know magic. How's the esper?" Celes' expression turned serious.

"We should take a look at it. We need Terra to try and establish a connection with the esper," Locke said. Terra felt her heart skip a beat. She was finally going to see the esper!

* * *

"Locke, why did you defend me when I arrived in Narshe? Why didn't you let them kill me?" Celes asked. The group was trudging up a snow-covered hill. The general watched her breath rise and disappear in puffs of what seemed like smoke as she exhaled. 

"You reminded me of someone…" Locke paused, frowning. "But what does it matter to you? Just be grateful that you're alive!" the thief grinned at the general, who looked away.

"So now I'm her replacement? The person I remind you of is a female, right?"

"No, you're not a replacement! Don't say that!" Locke glanced reassuringly at the general. "But I'll always be around if you need me! Promise!"

Celes blinked and stared at the man in front of her. "You're strange," she concluded and turned away, but her heart was beating hard. At that moment Sabin shouted.

"Hey, is that the esper? It's huge!"

Excited, Terra peered over the king's shoulder and saw a strange but beautiful-looking creature surrounded by ice. A cold chill ran down her spine as she stared at it and realization hit her. This beast was the creature that had appeared before she had passed out in Edgar's castle. Suddenly the esper glowed and spoke to her. Terra felt everything around her fade away. It was just her and the esper. She closed her eyes and moved closer, not speaking a word.

"Terra? What's wrong?" Locke asked nervously, and then shouted as a sudden shock knocked him to the side. Celes hurriedly helped him up, and everyone stared at Terra. Another invisible shock knocked everyone down so that there was nothing between the green-haired girl and the esper.

_"I can show you your past. Somehow you are a part of us and yet you don't belong…" _the esper said, and Terra knew that only she could hear the esper talking. She felt a huge, alien power swelling up inside her, screaming to be released.

"Terra! Get away from the esper!" Edgar shouted, but it was too late. Everyone watched in horror and awe as the girl slowly morphed into a strange, elegant creature with long, flowing white hair and a pale body. The new creature seemed to swirl around on the spot for what seemed like eternity, accelerating faster and faster before taking off into the sky and out of sight. The king watched the creature as it flew away.

"Terra…no...come back..."

* * *

"Sir, I have news," a soldier knelt in front of the minister, who sat in a luxurious chaise with a frown on his face. 

"What is it? Tell me, tell me!" Kefka ordered, a smirk replacing the frown. He shifted excitedly in his chair like a child who was about to go to the candy store.

"There have been several sightings of a strange creature flying in the sky. Researcher Cid believes that the creature could be an esper."

"Another esper? In our world? How delightful! Use the espers we have here to summon it," Kefka cackled. "We must develop our empire as quickly as possible, and that would be impossible without our precious little espers."

"Yes, sir. We'll try to summon it right away, sir."

* * *

_Omake:_

_"So now I'm her replacement? The person I remind you of is a female, right?" _

_"Of course that someone was a female! __Oh Edgar!"__ Locke called in a sing-song voice, and the king joined the couple. Terra followed behind, listening in on the conversation._

_"What?"_

_"That someone I'm always thinking of, is that person a female?"_

_The king straightened his back indignantly. __"Of course!__ How can I possibly be a male…whoops!" Locke and Edgar blinked, extremely embarrassed, at Terra, who nudged __Celes__ desperately._

_"Say something!" the green-haired girl hissed._

_"Uh…hi, __Edgarina__?"_

* * *

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, they really did make my day! And yes, I do suck at writing battle scenes, but I can't seem to do any better than what you just read. I was also thinking of writing another Final Fantasy VI fanfic where Gau tries to come up with the perfect date for Relm…how about that? I've got everything planned out, so tell me what you think of the idea. Thanks for reading. Please review! 


	5. Chapter 5: Reflections and Resolutions

Chapter 5: Reflections and Resolutions

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VI.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I don't really have much to say, but I suppose in comparison to the other action-filled chapters this one will be pretty boring. It's not much action, more about the characters and their thoughts. Enjoy!

Warnings: Spoilers, maybe some fluff.

* * *

_Today was just another day of plundering and killing. The bandit fingered the dagger in his pouch confidently, pleased with his group's work. They had just surrounded a traveller in rusted blue armour, and he looked like easy kill. The leader growled in what he thought to be an intimidating voice, __"Hand over your __gil__ now, or you'll be dead meat__." He felt lucky. _

_But oh, how wrong he was._

_"Get. Out. __Of.__ My. Way," the traveller said. His breathing was laboured and he spoke with authority. The bandit leader, however, was o__blivious to the blatant signs of danger._

_"Are you defying me? How dare you! Kill him!__" T__he bandit leader made a sweeping gesture and his followers ran forth at the lone man, screaming war cries of triumph._

_Suddenly the man roared, all his self-constraint gone, and with god-like speed he cut down all his attackers with four graceful yet deadly swishes of his katana. Not even looking back at the chaos that lay in his wake he flew elegantly at the leader of the group. The bandit tried to run but tripped on a tree root in his haste, crying as he fell._

_"Please, I'm sorry! Don't kill me! I'll do whatever you want! Please-__" But__ there was no mercy in store for him._

_A sword fell. Blood spurted. A man lay dead, his eyes staring, petrified, into space. A man strode steadily on ahead, his sword dripping with fresh blood._

_

* * *

The creature flew over the mountains, her power emanating strongly from her, pulsing in her veins, controlling her mind. The __esper's__ overflowing __power,__ however, was not the only thing she though__t about. Images began to fill__ the blank gaps in her memory. __Images __of a human mother cradling her to sleep. __Images of a strange creature that resembled her slightly looking proudly at her.__ But strangest of all, images of a world totally different to the one she knew. _

_Suddenly all the __esper's__ memories __we__re knocked aside by a huge jolt of energy. The creature sway__ed__ in midair for a moment before regaining her balance, suddenly filled __with feelings of vengeance. Her fellow kinsmen __were calling__ desperately __to her __for help! __The __esper__ searched desperately for the source of the calls and abruptly changed direction. She __flew swiftly to Vector. Reaching her destination with ease she descended. __Straight into the nets of the waiting Imperial guards._

* * *

"I can't believe I let her go," Edgar shook his head and spoke aloud to himself. He was alone in a room in the Elder's house. The king stared solemnly at his hands. "I should've stopped her," he whispered fiercely. "I was the only one who could do anything…" 

At that moment there was a knock on the door. Quickly pasting a fake smile on his face the king looked expectantly at the door. "Come in," he called, and Locke entered, a grim expression on his face. The thief took a seat next to the king.

"Are you better now? That must've hurt, being thrust out of the way by the strange bond between Terra and the esper," Edgar started. Locke massaged his temples.

"No, I'm fine, really," Locke smiled but to the king it was more like a grimace. "What were you thinking about? You've been cooped up in this room for quite a while."

"Nothing," the king replied quickly. He didn't want to show any sentimental feelings. Locke cleared his throat and sighed.

"I just wish I could have saved Terra…I felt so helpless. I couldn't protect her…"

"No, don't be sorry! You were forcefully knocked out of the way, but me! I just stood there and watched it all happen! If anyone should have saved her, it was me! I just feel so guilty about it all…" Edgar looked at the table, which had suddenly become very interesting. Locke grinned and the king knew he was in trouble.

"Haha, you fell for my trick! So you _were _thinking of Terra all along!" Locke teased, and Edgar's eyes bulged comically.

"What? I'm the only mastermind around!"

"Surprise!" Locke laughed at his friend's astounded expression before turning sombre. "So…tell me. What's on your mind? That's what friends are for, right?"

"Ugh, you know Terra…" Edgar stared ahead, avoiding eye contact with the thief. "Ever since she came to Figaro, I've felt…different. All sorts of questions have been exploding in my head, and I'm not even close to the answers."

"What kind of questions?" Locke breathed.

"Was it better for my kingdom to keep Terra alive? Because of her Figaro's been attacked and is now taking refuge somewhere under the sand. But what if I'd killed her?"

"Edgar, don't be stupid. Kefka would've attacked you anyways for killing such a valuable person," Locke admonished.

"But ever since she's been around, I've felt…happier. Content. One of the reasons why I didn't kill her, I suppose. But when I think back, I should've killed her in order to be a good king to Figaro. She tried to run away and she attacked me, but that didn't matter an ounce to me then," Edgar leaned back in his chair. "Does that make me a bad king?"

Locke was about to respond but at that moment the door opened again, admitting a red-faced, blond haired, muscular man. "Of course not! The decisions you made were correct; now we've got Terra on our side and we're all against the Empire. Terra was the turning point; it was an opportunity to come clean against the Empire and you didn't miss it." Sabin's expression softened. "Edgar, maybe I'm not the person to say this, but…I think you're in love."

The king stared at his twin brother, and then laughed out loud. "Love? With Terra? No no, Sabin, I think you've got it wrong. Terra's just a friend to me. If anyone should be in love with her, it's Locke. And I bet she loves him back." Edgar suddenly felt bitter and envious of the thief. He felt angry with himself for not being able to be what Terra needed. Locke sensed his friend's feelings and slapped his back.

"Edgar, don't be foolish. You're the one who's been with Terra during her hard times. And I know by the tone you use to refer to her that you're really…ahem…_fond_ _of her_. No need to be embarrassed, my king!" Locke grinned and then looked away. "In any case, I think I like Celes. I trust her and she's fun to be around."

"Oh really?" Edgar raised an eyebrow, glad that he was not the subject of the conversation anymore. "Then again, she's been cold to just about everyone but you."

"She reminds me of old memories. Of Rachel. But she's not a replacement." Locke looked at the twins, his expression pensive. "She's more than that."

"Well, there's someone who's not afraid to admit he's in love," Sabin said, shooting suggestive glances at his brother, who scowled.

"I don't like Terra that way! I've flirted with too many girls to be in love," the king added rather lamely.

Locke grinned at Edgar and folded his arms. "Describe Terra."

The king was taken aback by this question. He had not expected this question. He racked his brains for an answer that was not too suggestive. "She's-"

"Terra's," Sabin corrected, grinning mischievously. Edgar rolled his eyes.

"Terra's nice…caring…beautiful…sweet…" Edgar shook himself and gave a winner's smile. "…sometimes demanding…evil…clueless when it comes to flirting…"

"Edgar, I don't know which to be more ashamed of. The fact that you can't admit you're in love or the fact that you can't lie to save your life," Locke tutted at his friend, smiling all the while.

"Well, he doesn't have to do it for a living," Sabin pointed out. At that moment Edgar stood up, exasperated.

"Fine, if you think so, whatever. But we need to save Terra as soon as possible. Who knows what the Empire could be up to right now?"

"Yeah, you're right. For all we know, Terra could be in a prison cell right now," Locke shuddered. "I'd hate to be tortured."

"Don't mention it, you're making me feel sick," Edgar said. "We need to be positive and hope that nothing has happened to Terra…yet." The king put a brave smile on. Sabin laughed.

"Did I mention that I still haven't given Kefka one of my blitzes yet? Because now's the perfect time to do so," Sabin flexed his muscles. "We'll have to tell Celes about our plans."

"No need to, I heard your whole conversation; you had the grace to leave the door open," a feminine voice announced, and the three turned to face Celes. Locke blushed to the roots of his hair while Edgar cursed under his breath. Sabin, who had nothing to be embarrassed about, grinned.

"Good for you; you took the hint. But we'll need people to stay; we can never be too sure that the Empire won't attack Narshe again," the monk said.

"No, we can all go. Narshe has really beefed up its defences since we've arrived. After the attack about four hundred men joined the army. It's not much against the Empire, but it's a start," Celes reported. "I personally saw to that," the general looked at Locke, who turned away, growing an even darker shade of red. Celes turned to the king and the monk. "But we'll have to find a way of getting into the southern continent."

"That's no problem," Sabin said immediately. "Figaro sometimes transports people to the southern continent. We could journey back."

"But it's too dangerous; if we go back to Figaro our plans will become evident and the Empire will dispatch troops to guard Figaro and the desert," Edgar argued. "And it's not efficient enough. We'll have to travel on foot and it'll be at least a four days' walk from the Kohlingen Desert to Vector. Terra could be killed by someone-anyone-by then!"

"Do you have any other plans? Because I certainly don't," Celes retorted coolly. "Look, I know that they have chocobos in Maranda, too. If we can get there, the four days' walk will turn into a two day travel."

It was the king's turn to become pensive. "Well, I suppose the closest town from the desert is Kohlingen and Maranda isn't very far away…"

"Maranda's only fifteen miles away from Kohlingen. If we start out tonight we should be able to reach Maranda by early morning," Locke broke in.

"So, I guess it's decided," Edgar grinned, and then turned to Celes. "But Celes, you do realize that Locke doesn't really care for you…"

"Edgar!" Celes and Locke shouted in unison. Celes looked away, embarrassed, and Locke cleared his throat. "Look, I do care. And we'll. Be. Fine," he finished, sending a glare at the king. Edgar held his hands up in mock surrender.

"Alright alright, I give up-"

"And anyways, you're with Terra, right?" Celes asked with a straight face. Sabin roared. The king's eyes bulged for the second time.

"No! What is it with you all? I don't like Terra that way! And shouldn't we be saving her?"

"Yeah, but we need to start on a full stomach. I need to see to the rest of the newbie soldiers," Celes replied. She gestured towards the door. "Come on, all of you. All I really meant to do was call you for dinner. After that we'll set out for Figaro."

* * *

"Oh ho, what have we got here," Emperor Gestahl exclaimed softly as a writhing creature was placed on the table before him. "Is that an esper I espy?" 

"Oh goody, more power! Uwee-hee-hee! My bones are suddenly tingling with excitement," Kefka threw back his head and cackled. He pointed at the guards who knelt in front of the table. "Take this esper to the-"

"Hold on, my minister. Take a look at this," the emperor said softly. At that moment the esper began to glow with a bright light and its form began to take on that of a human's once more. Soon the naked form of Terra Branford lay on the table, her eyes closed as if she were asleep.

"Our dearest Terra has come back to us. What a-pleasant surprise," Emperor Gestahl breathed, standing up from his throne. He strode over to the sleeping girl and stroked her cheek, smiling evilly. Terra's eyes flew open, and realizing the gravity of her situation her eyes grew even wider.

"Let go of me," she croaked hoarsely. "I remember all of my past now. And you're not going to take it away again!"

"I'm sorry, but if you're going to act rebellious, then I'll have no choice," the emperor clicked his tongue disapprovingly at his prisoner. "You see, you've been naughty-very naughty. You failed to carry out my orders, you took refuge in the enemy's castle; you even ran off with him and ruined our plans to take the esper-what belonged rightfully to us! What have you been thinking all this time, my dear little _half-breed_?" Terra trembled with anger, but her face remained passive. Showing emotions was one of the big mistakes captives made when they were interrogated.

"I'm not going to be a liar, Emperor Gestahl. I want you to know that now that all my memories have returned, I'm not going to help you in this war-ever. Not even begging will get you what you want this time," she said firmly, and Kefka laughed, hiding his face behind his hand.

"I believe you're sorely mistaken, Terra. If anyone is going to beg, it'll be you, my dear. You'll be begging Emperor Gestahl to reconsider giving you back your position in the army."

"If that's what you think, you'll be sorely disappointed, Kefka," Terra knew she was pushing her luck but knew that there was no other way to act. Cowering or whimpering would please the emperor and his evil minister.

"Luckily for you I am not in the mood to kill anybody today," Emperor Gestahl said with authority. "Guards, take this insolent young lady to the dungeons and lock her up there. Do not give her anything to wear. Perhaps there are ways to redeem this young lady's soul."

"The only soul that is in sore need of redemption is yours, Gestahl," Terra snapped. She attempted to rise but her strength failed her. She inhaled deeply, as if breathing slowly could help suppress her fear. The emperor, not fooled by her feigned bravery, laughed. At a gesture from Kefka the soldiers seized Terra by her pale arms and dragged her brutally off the table and into the dungeon. The girl was thrown mercilessly into a dark cell. She shivered in the cold and screamed in vain at the guards.

"Let me out!"

"You should be grateful, girl. Usually Emperor Gestahl tells us to give the prisoner very little food. But you, half-esper, must mean something to him, for he didn't tell us to this time."

Terra heard the click of the door as it was locked. It sounded as if a final decision had been made. No more discussion. Terra miserably lifted her hand in front of her face. It was so dark that she couldn't see her fingers. The girl cuddled herself and began to rock back and forth, tears trickling down her cheeks.

"Why? Why do I have power? Why am I not some normal girl living in…in…Kohlingen? Or Figaro even?" she muttered softly. "Why did I have to be born as a half-esper? And when I turned into one, why did I have to come to Vector, of all places?"

All of a sudden her mind was filled with the familiar feeling of power. The girl looked around her as voices began to fill her mind.

_"We can no longer be saved…"_

_"Why did you listen to us?"_

_"__Kefka__ made us cry out, through torture…"_

_"We're sorry…"_

The voices of the espers! Her kinsfolk must be somewhere else in the castle. Terra stood up despite the cold and felt around her; her eyes were growing used to the dark. The cell was made of rock and there was a straw bed in one corner. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a rat scuttle across the cold floor. She watched the rodent disappear through the bars of her cell. "Oh, if only I were as small as you," she whispered rather enviously. Deciding that she would not be able to escape anytime soon, the girl sat down and began to think.

So much had happened in three days. In just three days she had lost her memory, become a Returner, seen how wrong the Empire was, defended an esper, been shut in a cold prison cell, and…met Locke. Although it was still pitch-black Terra could see the proud, tall figure of the man who had helped her through a huge part of her life. She felt a familiar sensation begin in her stomach and sighed. So Locke also had Edgar's strange power...

"Locke…" somehow saying the thief's name gave Terra a sense of comfort and she hugged her thin body. Suddenly it was as if she was talking to the thief and he was really in front of her. "What can I do now?" she asked uncertainly.

"Just wait; I'll be coming for you," Locke said in his confident but kind voice, and Terra smiled. "Bide your time-try and contact the espers again." At that moment the image of the thief began to fade away, but the girl did not try to conjure him up again.

Almost immediately the darkness began to surround the girl and fear gripped her soul again. What if her conversation with Locke Cole had just been a figment of her imagination? What if Locke, Celes, Sabin and Edgar had given up her? Maybe she would be killed not knowing whether her friends really were coming for her or not?

Terra shook her head violently, pushing all her doubts out of her mind. _Locke is coming for_ _me; if he isn't, I'll haunt him for the rest of his life, _she joked to herself and then curled up on her straw bed. _All my friends are coming for me._

* * *

_Omake:_

_In the room Edgar sat, alone, at a table. He shook his head, his eyes full of self-contempt and sorrow._

_"Why did I let her go? Why?" the king began to hiss, his eyes dilated. "My precious, my p-__rr__-__ee-ccciouss__…" Locke and __Celes__, who were passing by, stopped at the door, alarmed. Locke rapped on the door. _

_"Edgar? Are you okay?"_

_The king ignored the thief. "My p-__rr__-__ee-ccciouss__…my __ritz-bitz__…"_

_Celes__ looked anxiously at Locke, who leaned away from the door, a strange expression on his face. "Is Edgar okay?"_

_"Yeah, he's just having food cravings again," the thief smiled at the general. "Come __on,__ let's go get some __ritz-bitz__."_

* * *

A/N: I have a mini question for you. Have the kindness to reply: 

How would you rate Edgar's relationship with Terra so far? Is there enough romance between them? Or not enough? Please rate their relationship out of ten, ten being 'great romance' and one being 'no romance at all'!

Thanks for reading! Please review!


	6. Chapter 6: From Narshe to Vector

**Chapter 6: From ****Narshe**** to Vector**

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VI.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. Enjoy the story!

* * *

After dinner and a hasty farewell Sabin, Edgar, Celes and Locke set out on chocobos for Figaro. Although the night was clear it was extremely cold. The travellers' breaths unfurled into the cold night air, disappearing in mist before their eyes. Locke hugged his body for warmth while the king gripped his auto crossbow, his knuckles white, his face ghostly pale. His twin cracked his knuckles every now and then. Celes, however, strode proudly ahead, showing no sign of nervousness or tension. Locke glanced at her curiously. 

"Aren't you cold?" the thief asked, but Celes shook her head stubbornly.

"I'm not cold," she said, but Locke could see that her hands were, if only slightly, trembling, and her lips were pressed tightly together. Regardless of her words he draped his cloak around her body. The general looked at him gratefully but her words surprised everyone.

"Thank you, but now isn't the time to get sentimental. We need to save Terra." Locke dropped behind and Sabin and Edgar quickly caught up. Edgar grinned at Locke, who was scowling slightly.

"What now, lover-boy?"

"I'm going to protect her," Locke said persistently, ignoring the king. He galloped off on his chocobo to catch up with Celes. Edgar sighed at the couple and smiled, somewhat bittersweet. Sabin looked at his older brother.

"You never really loved Celes, did you?"

Edgar opened his mouth in light-hearted protest but decided against it. "No, I never liked her that way. She's a little too-cold-for me, don't you think? Right now all I'm doing is trying to bring the two together." The king gestured towards the pair walking side by side.

Sabin examined his brother's cheerful expression, somewhat shocked. "You sound like a nosy matchmaker!"

"Maybe I am," Edgar replied, laughing. His expression turned serious. "But we should be getting a move on now, before the sun rises. I want to get to Maranda before sunrise."

"Um, Edgar, I don't think that'll be possible for now," Sabin said warily. The king looked away from his brother and spotted two troops of Imperial soldiers racing at him, their swords drawn. Edgar drew his breath in sharply.

"How did the Empire know about our plans so quickly?" he murmured to himself, wielding his auto crossbow. Sabin darted away from his brother and at the same time a soldier caught up to the king. Edgar blocked a sword blow with his crossbow and kicked the man in the stomach, winding him. He then used his chocobo to run over his victim. More soldiers began to surround him and then realisation sank in: they wouldn't be able to defeat them all!

"Quick! Retreat!" Celes shouted, blasting two soldiers off their feet with her magic. This small performance gave Edgar a chance to escape the otherwise tight ring of soldiers. Catching up to his comrades, the four rode as hard as they could, making for the desert. Locke took the opportunity to speak.

"The desert's so open! We'll be seen for miles around!"

"Do we have a choice?" Sabin gritted his teeth. "This is so unmanly, running away from a bunch of small fry," he muttered under his breath.

"Don't complain; if you'd insisted on fighting, we'd have left you to fend for yourself," his twin retorted, but everyone knew that that wasn't true. Edgar would have stopped everyone just to wait for his younger brother.

At that moment Celes jumped off her chocobo and stood her ground in spite of their pursuing attackers. Locke looked back, gaping dumbly at her.

"Celes!" the thief in turn dismounted his chocobo and ran to join the general. Edgar and Sabin turned around and headed back for their comrades.

"What are you doing? The soldiers are coming!" Edgar shouted amidst the now deafening war cries. The icy general gestured ahead.

"We've just fallen into a trap." Sabin turned, and even he gaped at what he saw.

Blocking their only path to Figaro were two huge Magitek machines, both more formidable-looking than the last two. Edgar groaned.

"How did Kefka know about our plans?" he reiterated. Locke began to tremble uncontrollably, his bangs covering his eyes.

"Who cares about how they knew? Curse them-curse them all!" Locke raised his head, and in his eyes there burned an unmistakable hatred. Without hesitation he flew towards his foes. Suddenly afraid that Locke would be injured in his berserk state, Celes ran forth to help support him. Edgar and Sabin were about to join, however, when a sword blow fell, just missing Sabin's ear. The two twins whirled around and found themselves in the heat of battle, fending off soldiers while their companions fought off the two Magitek machines.

"Locke, listen carefully. All you have to do is attack. These monsters know magic; if they manage to use their powers there won't be anything left of us. So you do the attacking; I'll draw their magic in with my rune blade," Celes explained hurriedly, dodging a physical attack. Locke's eyes bulged.

"But you'll be okay?"

"Trust me," the general said firmly, sending a brief, assuring smile the thief's way. She drew her sword once more, sparks flying around her. "Runic!"

While Celes and Locke were fighting the machines Edgar and Sabin were beginning to be pushed back into their companions. The soldiers' numbers were too vast; it took all of the king's strength to keep his auto crossbow pointed at the advancing ranks. For every soldier that was killed, two more came to replace him. Sabin, too, was reduced to delivering punches and kicks that were just barely able to knock the soldiers down. The king desperately racked his brains for methods to escape. He did not feel like calling his companions to his aid; they had their own battles to fight. And then he thought of something.

"Sabin, why haven't you been using your blitzes? Are you tired?" the king panted, knocking a soldier weakly away with his crossbow. Suddenly his twin let out a roar of laughter. A few soldiers took a few steps back in surprise.

"Tired? Are you kidding, older brother? I'm just getting warmed up!" the monk flexed his muscles, and to prove his point: "Raging fist!" All of a sudden Sabin became a blur. All Edgar could see were soldiers falling down, spitting blood and moaning. In five minutes flat Sabin had knocked out all the soldiers. Edgar watched, gaping.

"Are you tired now?"

"Just a little," Sabin gave a winners' smile that made him resemble his twin. The victory, however, was short-lived as the muscle-head was suddenly blown off his feet by a sudden gush of ice.

"Sabin!" Edgar shouted, running to his twin's side. "Are you okay?" he asked, his brow creased with worry. A little blood trickled down the side of the monk's mouth.

"Nothing a little magic can't heal." Edgar turned to face Celes and Locke who were standing behind them. "Sorry about that-we didn't expect the last Magitek machine to release its magic," Locke apologized. Sabin grinned, hurriedly wiping his blood away.

"No, I'm fine, really. In any case, we should be hurrying to Figaro; anything could happen to Terra at this point in time." Standing up quickly, the monk turned in the direction of Figaro. "Let's go."

* * *

"Welcome back, King Edgar!" Chadron bowed formally, and then his eyes widened slightly at the figure next to him. "We are honoured to have you back again," he said in a more respectful tone towards Sabin. The king laughed. 

"Chadron likes you better, Sabin."

"Naturally-I wasn't the one chasing the girls," Edgar's twin laughed, and then cleared his throat. "I'm-er-going to look around the castle. I've missed home." Without another word the monk departed from his friends. Locke grinned after the retreating figure.

"Shouldn't he be resting? He did, after all, get hit by magic."

"In any case, we should be getting some sleep ourselves," Celes said. Edgar pointed at one of the doors.

"Then you should know that that door leads to the guestrooms. You'll know your way once you enter," he explained. "In the meantime, I'll be seeing to the fact that we're on our way to the Kohlingen desert."

* * *

"I've been getting lots of requests to move to the Kohlingen desert lately," the engineer chuckled. "I've rejected several offers, but one can't deny the king!" 

"Certainly not," Edgar agreed, but his mind was elsewhere. "Try and get there as soon as possible," the king added. The old man gave a mock salute.

"Yes, my king! As soon as possible! Enjoy the ride!" Without another word the king trudged slowly up the staircase to the throne room, deep in thought. Thoughts about Kefka, the Empire, and Terra. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice his twin examining the throne.

"Edgar, this place hasn't changed much…and it's already been ten years…" Sabin murmured, and the king jumped.

"I-I did try to keep everything the same…" he muttered more to himself than anybody else, but Sabin heard him. The king then smiled and said in a louder voice, "But you've changed a lot. Sabin the shrimp has become a whopping lobster!"

"And you're a king crab!" the monk returned. He sank down in one of the thrones and Edgar joined his twin. The two sat in mutual silence for a moment before Sabin broke the ice.

"I remember the time when dad died…and everyone was so…so…"

"Apathetic?"

"That's the word. And then you flipped the coin to see who would stay and who could go…and I won…" Sabin seemed to be staring at nothing but Edgar knew that he was really looking back at the past.

"And you chose your freedom," the king finished off. "Speaking of which, where were you for the past ten years? I have never heard a single word about you, save for the fact that there was a man who resembled me in Mount Kolz!"

"After I left I went to South Figaro. That's where I met Master Duncan and took up my training as a monk. I have had to leave recently, though…" Sabin stared sadly at his feet. "Master Duncan was killed by the hands of his own son, Vargas."

"Why?" the king stared, puzzled. "Why would a man want to kill his own father?"

"He was jealous. He thought that Master Duncan wanted me to be his heir, the master," the monk said. Although his hands were shaking his eyes were dry. "So I went after Vargas."

"I'm sorry," Edgar stared awkwardly at the floor, and then leaned closer to his twin. "Did you kill him?" he breathed.

"He ran away first," Sabin snorted. "Coward. At least I gave him a taste of my Raging Fist before he left. Afterwards I heard about you, Locke and Terra so I hurried to Narshe in the hopes that I would get there in time." The monk looked around, sniffing the air pleasantly. "So here I am."

Another awkward silence ensued, in which Edgar reflected on what had happened to him in the past ten years. He had pretended to be the Empire's ally all that time, and compared to Sabin's story, nothing had happened! Until Terra came…

"Okay, Edgar, I know you're thinking about Terra," Sabin grinned and the king was reminded of a bear.

"How did you know?"

"You had that thoughtful expression on your face again. You know, the kind that kings don't usually have."

"Because they're so foolish?"

"Perhaps," the monk shrugged carelessly. "So are you in love with Terra or not?"

"Why are you so eager to know?"

"When I left, I didn't leave just because I didn't want to be king. I went to get stronger so I could protect Figaro, too," Sabin said, scuffing his shoes. "I felt really guilty about leaving you by yourself."

"And this is got to do with my own personal affairs because…?"

"We're twins! You can share this one secret, right?" the monk nudged his brother. "I know I'm being really nosy, but spill!"

The king sighed. "Terra's a strange girl. She seems human enough, but remember when she turned into…into…an esper and flew away?"

"How do you know she turned into an esper?"

"She reminded me of the esper on the cliff," the king explained. "And since it was that esper that triggered whatever it was inside her, she must have some sort of power. To be born with magic isn't…isn't…normal."

"Look, you're my twin. I know you inside out. So tell me why you're really thinking about her," Sabin groaned. Edgar's response, however, surprised him.

"Can espers control people?"

"I-I don't know about that," the monk stared. "Why?"

"Every time I look at Terra I feel like-like-something. I don't know what it is, and it's freaking me out. I feel as if I've known her forever, as if we've been together since the beginning of the world," the king sighed and put his head in his hands. "It's as if she has power over me."

"Maybe she does-the power of love," Sabin teased.

"Will you cut all that stuff out of this?" the king snapped. "For the last time, I am _not_ in love with Terra!"

"And for the last time, stop lying!" the monk countered. His expression softened. "Look, you don't have to tell me all about it, but you don't have to deny it, either."

The king sighed and leaned back in his throne. "Is it that obvious?"

"Well, you always have this look on your face when someone mentions her," Sabin started. "You were also really eager to start out for Figaro…"

"Was it right to keep her alive?"

"Huh?" the monk stared. The question had come out of the blue.

"You know, instead of killing her like all my subjects wanted," Edgar explained.

"Oh, _that _incident. Locke told me all about it," Sabin thought for a moment. "Yes, I think you were right to. Like he said before, if you'd killed Terra the Empire would've come after you. The Empire was looking for an excuse to come after Figaro, but what you did made us benefit from the encounter. We've got Terra on our side now."

"I keep telling myself that, but…what if she's gone back to Vector? What if Kefka and Gestahl take her back? Then she'll be a traitor, and then where will we be?"

"Stop thinking like that. Terra may have been an Imperial soldier before, but she's not a traitor. Have faith in her!" Sabin clapped his depressed twin on the back, forcing a weak smile from him.

"Right now it's as if you're the older twin," Edgar said.

"Payback for all the times you've been looking out for me?" Sabin grinned, watching his twin blush.

"I was never looking out for you; it was just a figment of your imagination!" the king exclaimed proudly, standing up. "Don't think that my responsibility includes looking after you!"

"Haha," Sabin replied drily, but inside he smiled. The old Edgar was back again. And suddenly, he was gone.

"Do you think mom and dad are proud of me? For everything I've done?" the king asked softly.

"Of course they are! Wherever they are right now, I'm sure that they're beaming with pride!" Sabin exclaimed. At that moment Edgar gestured and two glasses of wine were brought in. The servant handed one glass to Edgar and the other to his twin. The king lifted his glass.

"To mom and dad!"

"And Figaro!" Sabin concluded, standing up to join his brother. The two downed their glasses in one gulp and then looked at each other.

"We should get some sleep; in a few hours we'll be in Kohlingen," Edgar said. His twin nodded his agreement, and together they made for their chambers.

* * *

After they had arrived in the Kohlingen desert the four travellers exited the castle, refreshed and raring to go. The journey to Maranda was uneventful (save for Locke's endless grumbling about the lack of chocobos in Figaro) and midday saw Edgar, Sabin, Celes and Locke at their destination. The city was small and infested with Imperial soldiers, but none of them seemed to recognize or notice the Returners as they restocked their tent and food supplies. In the city square a huge crowd watched two dogs fighting while a woman tried to escape from a love-sick soldier. Edgar sighed. 

"People always say that the Empire is bad but the soldiers themselves only want to be with their friends and families…"

"Don't get too sentimental. Who knows when we'll have to kill some of them…?" Locke muttered. Celes looked at the thief with a poker face, but inside she was worried.

"Locke…" she murmured. Could the thief still be thinking about Rachel? According to Terra, he hated the Empire because of that incident…

The travellers entered the items shop. Edgar, Sabin and Locke began haggling with the shopkeeper about the price of meat but Celes lingered behind. She was still deep in thought about Locke and his past; so deep in thought that she almost collided into a stranger.

"Watch where you're going-Maria?" a voice spoke, and Celes looked at the man she had bumped into. He was tall with white hair and small, narrow eyes. He wore a black coat with gold and large black boots. In his hands was a pack of cards.

"Who are you?" Celes asked, but the man took no notice of her question.

"Maria, my love! What are you doing here, and what is with that outfit of yours?" the man returned somewhat incredulously. "I thought you were going to be at the opera house!"

"I think you're mistaken; I am not called Maria and I am _not_ some opera floozy," Celes said icily.

"What? No, you've got to be joking. I'm Setzer Gabbiani, the gambler! Don't you remember our little deal…?"

"Hey, back off! We're sorry, but this isn't Maria, or whoever you think she is!" Locke interrupted. Setzer looked at the thief in surprise.

"She isn't?"

"Oh, he finally gets what we've been trying to tell him all along…" Edgar muttered under his breath.

"I'm sorry, I must be mistaken," the gambler gave Celes a brief smile and was about to exit the shop when another man suddenly rushed in.

"Sir, your airship should be ready in a day or two." The travellers' ears perked up, and the four immediately began to discuss certain possibilities.

"If we could hop aboard that man's airship, we'd be in Vector in just a few hours at the least!" Locke whispered excitedly. Sabin frowned.

"That may be so, but chances are, he's not going to let random people take free rides on his airship!"

"Celes, I think we'll need you here," Edgar winked at the general, who blinked. Realization sank in, and she waved her arms in protest.

"You want me to pretend to be this Maria person?"

"Just this once, Celes," the king pleaded. "We need to save Terra as soon as possible!"

"I don't agree with this plan," Locke argued. "Surely we can sneak on board this airship of his…?"

"There's no other way. The airship will probably be under tight surveillance twenty-four seven," Sabin rebuked. "I agree with Edgar-"

"Wouldn't you?" Celes muttered irritably.

"-so please, Celes, just this once?"

"Fine, fine," the general sighed. "Just this once. But don't expect me to do anymore favours."

"Ahem, this is for Terra," Edgar pointed out.

"I get it," the general glared at the king and then turned to face the gambler, a sweet smile on her face. Setzer appeared to be arguing with the man.

"I can't wait another day! My love is waiting for me in the opera house! She won't be happy if I don't turn up on time, and it's urgent!" the gambler was shouting. The man shook his head persistently.

"Sir, if we allow you to take the airship now, there will be a picture in the news tomorrow depicting your head and a mass of blood. Our company cannot be responsible for that-"

"Then I'll sign a contract saying that you're not responsible for whatever happens, anything! As long as you give me my airship back-"

"Come now, Setzer, be patient. I'm right here," Celes interrupted. The gambler looked at her, confused.

"But you said that you weren't Maria!"

"Of course I am!" Celes leaned in closer to Setzer, hearing a sharp intake of breath come from Locke. "I just didn't want our affair to come out before hand."

"Oh, yes, yes, of course…" Setzer smiled. "But why are you with those men?" he asked, gesturing towards Celes' three companions who were trying unsuccessfully to make themselves scarce.

"They're my fellow opera singers-the man with the bandana is a tenor and the other two are basses," Celes pointed. The gambler nodded in approval.

"But my friends and I need to get to the opera house in two days for my next performance. I'm in no hurry, though-do you suppose…?" the general looked at the gambler.

"Of course you can come along on my airship! How can I refuse a request from my love?" Setzer grinned in a charming fashion, and it took all of Celes' manners to not turn away and snort. The man looked ridiculous. Setzer turned to the man. "Alright, I will wait a day. But no more; I must take Maria to the opera house in time," he said firmly. With a grateful nod the man left the shop. Setzer took Celes into his arms, and Locke coughed loudly.

"We should get a room at the inn-"

"Actually, my friends and I have to do a bit of shopping first," Celes interrupted, smiling sweetly. The smile came out as a grimace. "You go ahead to the inn, Setzer. I can rent a room with my friends later."

"But I want to be with you-"

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder," the general quoted, touching the gambler's cheek. "We can be together for as long as we want on your airship." Setzer opened his mouth in protest and then closed it. "Alright, I'll see you in the morning, then," he conceded. Giving Celes a kiss on the cheek he left the shop. The general slowly walked back to her companions.

"You sure took your sweet time," Locke said, trying with all his might to keep the envy out of his voice. Edgar grinned.

"You sure are smooth, Celes. Would you mind flirting a little with me-?"

"No," the general replied curtly. "I've had enough of flirting." Celes turned around and strode, indignant, out of the shop. Shaking his head and smiling, Edgar followed the general. Sabin looked at Locke, who was still fuming.

"Well, we've got ourselves a ride on an airship," he said, and followed his twin out.

* * *

"You can do this," Terra whispered, her throat hoarse and dry. For the past few hours she had been trying to come into contact with the voices that spoke in the back of her head, and so far she had had little success. She closed her eyes and pushed at the wall that seemed to appear right before she had reached her goal. 

Suddenly Terra felt herself being propelled, and a whirl of images came to her. These images, however, were not from her past. These were images of the espers in the factory. Images of strange yet beautiful creatures trapped in glass capsules. Images of their haunting eyes staring straight at her. Terra felt her heart wrench.

"We're beyond rescue now, but there's still hope for you," all the espers seemed to whisper. "You have the power to kill Kefka. We shall give ours to you-through magicite."

"What is magicite? How can you give it to me when you're so weak?" Terra whispered back.

"When we die, we turn into magicite. Magicite is the purest form of our powers, and with it you can summon us from the other world and learn our powers," one esper replied, and Terra felt a strange connection with it. Dread and horror filled her.

"Father…?" she gasped, and a few prisoners in the neighbouring cells stared at her, jeering, their ugly faces pressed against the bars. She ignored them.

"Don't worry about me; you must fight for yourself. Prevent a second War of the Magi…prevent the earth turning to ashes…" the esper hissed. "We can give you our powers, no matter how far you are from us. With the last of our power we can escape these capsules and come to you…"

"But father, can you escape your prisons?"

"Of course, but back then there was nobody to run to. There was nobody we could trust. But now that you remember your past, perhaps there is new hope…"

All of a sudden the images of the espers began to fade away. Terra desperately tried to reach out once more, but it was to no avail. Almost immediately a new power began to fill her, refresh her. She felt stronger and more confident as ancient spells she had never known before made themselves known to her.

"Thank you, father, everybody," she whispered, her fingers tingling with the desire to cast a spell. "I just wished that there'd been an alternative…"

* * *

_Omake:_

_"Perhaps," the monk shrugged carelessly. "So are you in love with Terra or not?"_

_"Why are you so eager to know?"_

_Sabin looked straight into Edgar's eyes. "When I left Figaro, I didn't want to heap all that responsibility on you. So I came back," he breathed softly._

_"So you do love me!" Edgar cried. Sabin made a gesture and a servant came in with two glasses of wine. The servant gave one glass to Edgar and the other to Sabin. Sabin raised his glass._

_"To the king and queen of Figaro!" the king stared and coughed slightly._

_"Ahem-to the __new__ king and queen of Figaro."_

* * *

A/N: Sorry it took so long for this chapter to come out, but I _do _have a life to live (although sometimes I wish I could stay in dreamland forever ;) ). If it makes you feel any better, I'll try and finish this story within two weeks. 

Thanks for reading! Please review!


	7. Chapter 7: Prelude

**Chapter 7: ****Prelude **

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VI!

A/N: I kind of lost my motivation for writing for a while; could I say it was because of the lack of reviews? In any case, I won't be able to finish the story any time soon because I'm going on a ski trip for a week. In any case, this should be the second last chapter!

* * *

"Maria! Maria, are you there?" a loud voice shouted from outside the door, and Locke groaned. The gambler had finally decided to visit. Celes, in the meanwhile, was hurriedly combing her hair. 

"Why do you care about your appearance?" the thief scowled. "Are you really bent on seeing that man?"

"I have to play the part of Maria, and so I mustn't let my guard down," the general replied.

"What if Maria has really messy hair?"

"Celes isn't seen with messy hair. And what woman allows her lover to see her in a bad state?" the general returned, unruffled. "If you want to blame someone, blame Edgar. He's the one who made me do all this in the first place." The king spread his palms out, laughing.

"Stop being so sour. Because of you we're going to get a ride on an airship! In fact, you should be thanking me for my genius!"

Locke opened his mouth to reply but Setzer's loud voice interrupted. "Maria, are you there?"

"Coming!" Celes shouted. She opened the door to see the gambler with a bunch of roses.

"These are for you, my dear," Setzer smiled, handing the roses over. The general took them with a small murmur of thanks.

"Is your airship ready? My companions and I are somewhat rushed."

"Of course it is! Why would I come to you now if I weren't even ready to do what I promised?"

"Because you never did?" Locke muttered nastily under his breath, and Edgar shot him a warning look. Setzer, however, was oblivious to the thief's snide remark. Gathering Celes in his arms, the gambler beckoned to the others. "Come with me."

The travellers were led through the empty streets (as it was still early in the morning) to a large, formidable-looking building. They mounted several flights of grey, gloomy stairs. Feigning fatigue, Celes leant on Setzer. Locke raised his eyebrows, irritated.

"How far is it to the top?"

"Not very far, my heart. I can carry you the rest of the way-"

"Oh no, I mustn't burden you. I'm fine." Behind him Sabin could hear Locke breathe a sigh of relief.

After a few more minutes of walking light suddenly began to shine on the steps. "We're almost there, aren't we?" Edgar panted.

"No, we are here," Setzer corrected. He suddenly stepped aside, allowing the four travellers to gaze at a grand machine. It was a fine mahogany brown in colour and the engines hummed smoothly. Even Edgar, who was a champion of technology, was amazed by what he saw.

"Do you like it?" Setzer glanced at Celes.

"It's-wonderful," the general breathed, although inside she was not so impressed. With just one word she could blast the machine to bits.

"Hop aboard the Blackjack," the gambler beamed with pride. "This baby has been built from scratch. I spent five years building this beauty!"

"Allow me to examine the engines. They are very quiet-almost as quiet as my drill!" Edgar exclaimed. An awkward silence ensued.

"Um…ignore my friend. He is very keen on technology," Celes said hurriedly, giving the gambler a brief smile. "Now, may I have a closer look at your fine masterpiece?"

"Oh, yes, of course," Setzer replied. He helped the general into his airship and then turned to Locke, Edgar and Sabin. "I'm sure you'll have no difficulty in making yourselves comfortable in my airship. Please come to me if you need anything." With a mock bow he followed Celes. Locke growled after the gambler.

"That good for nothing show-off!"

"Locke, keep your opinions to yourself. Save them for when we're aboard the Blackjack and when it's too late for our host to turn back," Edgar pleaded. It was obvious that he really wanted to examine the Blackjack's engine structures. Sabin sighed.

"In any case Cele-Maria's already inside. If we stay here, we'll never be able to reach Vec-I mean, the opera house-in time!" Without further ado the three men joined the general and their host. Setzer watched them climb aboard.

"Goodbye, land!" Setzer cried out, and with a graceful spin of his hand sent the wheel turning. Slowly but surely the airship lifted off, the low humming of the engines turning into a loud roar. Sabin grinned at his twin.

"So much for examining the engines-they're just as loud as Magitek machines on the roll."

"Silly fool! The noise is relatively quiet for an airship as big as this!" Edgar reprimanded his twin, who held his hands up in surrender.

"Sorry we're not technology geniuses like you!"

In the meantime Celes approached the gambler once again, feeling the jealous glare of a certain thief burning a hole into her back. "How are we getting to the opera house? Are there any countries we can stop at?"

The gambler turned to face Celes, not taking his hands off the wheel. "Do you find the view up here unpleasant?" he enquired worriedly.

"No, it's very beautiful and peaceful up here! I'm just curious…"

"We going to take a detour and avoid Vector. It's too dangerous to pass over that city-"

"Setzer, I want you to go to Vector," Celes interrupted. She had to come clean now. The gambler looked at her quizzically.

"Why, Maria? I do not want to risk being captured by the hateful Empire…" Celes touched his hand gently.

"I cannot keep this charade up any longer. Setzer, I'm not Maria."

"What? No, you must be joking," Setzer looked at Celes in the eye. She stared back firmly at him. Locke, all too eager to come clean, leaped up from his seat.

"It's true, Setzer. This lady isn't Maria-she's Celes Chère of the Returners."

The gambler's face turned pale white as he understood that he'd been tricked. He opened his mouth as if to shout something but closed it again. Finally, he spoke. His voice was calm but his fingers trembled with anger. "If you're not Maria, then we have nothing to talk about. I will land in Albrook and then you will all have the chance to get off my airship before I do something nasty to you."

"Setzer, hear us out, please," Celes begged. "You said yourself that you hated the Empire-we hate it, too. What's more, we're on our way to _try and kill __Kefka__ and __Gestahl_. If you could just take us to Vector…we'd be so grateful…"

The gambler paused and thought for a moment, not taking his eyes off the blue sky. Finally, he turned to the four travellers. "I will take you to Vector on one condition."

"Name it," Edgar ordered rather dismissively, but inside his heart was beating hard. He had read so much that he knew in these cases the person would name something almost impossible to give.

"Celes, you must become my bride in place of Maria. I have concluded that you are even cuter than she," the gambler said, and Locke ran to the general's side.

"You can't do that! You're taking Celes-"

"Locke, calm down!" Celes ordered. She turned to the gambler. "I will become your bride, but I insist that we toss a coin. I'll be heads, you be tails. If I lose, I'll be your bride, but if you lose then you have to help us in our quest to kill Kefka and Gestahl."

"Alright," the gambler agreed. He reached into his black coat but Celes stopped him.

"There's no need to go to such pains for a coin; I'll get one," Celes smiled sweetly. Setzer was immediately on the guard, but he did nothing to stop the general. Perhaps Lady Luck was still on his side. Pleased that things were going her way, Celes approached Edgar.

"Give me the coin," she whispered into his ear. The king raised his eyebrows, confused.

"Eh?"

"You know, _that _coin…"

"Oh, right," the king fished in his cloak, humming to himself all the while. Setzer tapped his foot impatiently. Finally Edgar found the coin. Cleaning it quickly with his shirt he handed it to the general.

"We'll both toss the same coin, so there's a possibility that you help us and I become your bride," Celes frowned, and then added, "No going back on your word."

"I may be a gambler, but I'm not a cheater or a liar," Setzer replied coolly. Behind the two Locke watched, biting his fingernails nervously. He knew that Celes didn't want to marry Setzer, either, but what would happen if the coin landed on tails?

Celes threw the coin, and everyone watched, their breaths baited, as the shiny object spinned in the air before landing on the ground. Everyone peered eagerly at it, and Celes bit her lip to stop herself from cheering.

"You have to help us to Vector," she said. Locke clenched his cold fists. Setzer's toss could still render Celes his bride. The gambler, however, was frowning. He bent over to pick up the coin, examined it and laughed.

"How neat…I've heard of them, but I've never seen a double-headed coin before…" Sabin gasped and looked at his twin, who shrugged.

"You gave Celes that coin…?" Edgar ignored his twin.

"No going back on your word, Setzer. You agreed to play by my rules," Celes reminded the gambler.

"Saving the world with nothing to lose but my life…how exciting!" Setzer laughed as he threw the double-headed coin. It landed without surprising results. "My life's a chip in your pile. Let's go to Vector, then!" And with a smart flick of his wrist the gambler changed the airship's direction. Breathing normally once more, Locke joined Celes.

"You scared me! For a moment I thought you were really going to become Setzer's bride!" Locke exclaimed. Celes regarded the thief coolly, but inside her hearted melt. If only slightly.

"I wouldn't bet when there was a possibility of my losing."

"You're risking your life to save Terra now," Locke pointed out. Celes sighed.

"When your friend's silly enough to get herself caught, you don't really have a choice," she said. Although her words were harsh the thief knew that she was really saving Terra out of kindness.

* * *

About six hours later Sabin approached the gambler, who was busying himself with steering the wheel. "How long will it take to get to Vector? A friend of ours is held prisoner there, so we're hoping to get there as soon as possible," he said. 

"We'll be there very soon, just five minutes-"

"Every minute counts! Can't we get there faster?" Edgar asked anxiously. The gambler shook his head.

"No. I know how you feel, but all you can do for now is sit tight and hope that we can get there in five minutes," Setzer replied. Locke grinned at the king who was thoroughly frustrated.

"If you must know why Edgar's so agitated, it's because he's in-"

"Cut that out, will you?" Edgar roared, playfully punching Locke in the shoulder. A mini fight ensued, and for a while the king forgot his troubles.

* * *

_"Finally," the warrior panted. He had finally reached his destination: Vector. In spite of the cuts and bruises on his arms and legs the all he could see was the evil city and above all the ugly face of __Kefka__ leering at him. But look! He had to get past the guards standing at the entrance to the city. Without thinking the warrior rushed forward, his katana raised, ignoran__t of his protesting muscles. Alarmed, the guards raised their axes in defence. They had never seen such a wild man before._

_Sword clashed with axe. The warrior and his adversaries fought with god-like speed in a fatal yet beautiful dance of death. __Although the warrior was more skilled in swordplay, h__e was at a huge disadvantage: in his berserk state he had not rested for two days running. Now, however, his body was beginning to take its toll. __His blows were sluggish and weak, and slowly he began to reach his limit. The guards, realising that they had the advantage, began to rain blows unmercifully on their victim. Blood spurted from the warrior's __shoulder. One of the guards raised his axe, grinning maliciously. The warrior closed his eyes, resigned. This was the end._

_The warrior waited for the coup de grace, but it never came. __Instead he heard the familiar clash of metal on metal. His eyes flew open and he saw a young man fighting off his attackers. His vision blurred and he finally became unconscious, uncaring of the world around him._

* * *

"How's our guest?" Sabin asked. 

"His wounds are serious, and it appears that he hasn't allowed himself to rest for two days in a row," Celes reported, wincing slightly as the blue light surrounding the injured warrior wavered. "My magic is beginning to wane. I might not be able to heal him-he may die." She added, her face passive. Sabin frowned, worried.

"Should I step in for you? I've recently devised a blitz that can heal. It's not as efficient, but-"

"Shh! He's coming to!" Celes interrupted. As reported, the warrior's eyelids flickered and opened. He stared weakly at his saviours.

"Where am I? Who are you?" he asked weakly. "Am I…dead?"

"No, you're very much alive," Edgar replied. "But you came very close to being killed."

"Lucky Sabin got to you in time," Locke added. The warrior looked over at the monk who stood a little distance away.

"I-I thank thee for saving my life," the warrior stuttered. "My name is Cyan Garamonde, retainer to King Alexander of Doma. The late King Alexander," the warrior added bitterly. Celes stared at Cyan.

"Doma? Wasn't that the country Kefka was after? Then you must be the lone survivor!"

"How dost thou know?" Cyan stared back at Celes, who blushed with embarrassment.

"A soldier of the Empire…told me…"

"Surely such valuable information would not be trusted to a Returner such as yourself?"

"I was a Magitek knight…"

"What? Get away from me, knave!" Cyan shouted, struggling to move, but his wounds were not fully healed, and so he sat pathetically, glaring as hard as he could at the general. "You vermin were the cause of the fall of my kingdom, my lord, my family!" The retainer made a move as if to attack the general, but Locke moved in between them.

"Celes is on our side now! Please, she has seen how wrong the Empire is, and now she's willing to help us kill Gestahl!" Locke shouted.

"Locke…" Celes murmured, bowing her head. There was an awkward pause, but Cyan finally spoke.

"Alright, I'll help you. Because you have saved my life, I owe you my service. But as for the lady general-" Cyan pointed an accusing finger at Celes. "-Don't think that I trust you."

"Well, just watch me and let me prove to you how loyal I am," Celes returned coldly. Cyan's reasons for hating her were invalid; Leo had never intended on poisoning the whole of Doma in the first place. It had been Kefka's idea, and no one had been around to prevent him from carrying it out. There was, in reality, no reason for him to distrust her.

"In any case, what are we waiting for?" Cyan sat up slowly. "Kefka is only a step away. Let's go!"

"Excuse me? Us?" Locke laughed nervously. "I don't mean to be rude, but you're still badly injured! Perhaps you should stay in the airship-Kefka's not an easy opponent!"

"My wounds are nothing-also, what better opportunity do I have of returning your favour?" the warrior rebuked. "Thou hast no problem with my coming, no?"

"Will you stop with the thous?" Sabin asked, slightly annoyed. "Otherwise thou shalt-oh gods…" the monk sighed. "Look what you've done!" Cyan ignored Sabin.

"Let us proceed in our quest to kill Gestahl and his evil Empire!"

One by one, the heroes filed in through the door. Edgar stood outside, waiting for a moment. "Let us proceed in our quest to kill Gestahl and save Terra," he corrected softly before following Locke into the castle.

* * *

Gestahl's castle was large and eerie, emanating a cold, hostile aura. The six heroes walked quietly yet quickly down the halls, wincing with each step they took. As Celes later observed, they were like large elephants on a stampede. In spite of the seemingly loud noises, however, no one approached. 

After what seemed like eternity the rebels entered a room. Celes sighed as old memories began to haunt her.

"This was my bedroom. It seems that Kefka wanted to erase all evidence of my being here."

Sure enough, the room was in tatters. Old treasure chests were opened, their jaws gaping emptily. The walls were grey and dirty and the bed had been stripped of its sheets. The room seemed more like a prison cell without the skeletons and blood. On the other side of the room were two doors.

"If we go through the door to the left that will lead us down to the prison cells," Celes pointed. "There will be several flights of steps and the way down is very narrow, so be careful. If we are ambushed from both sides we will be doomed."

"Is there another way? If there isn't then we may as well risk being ambushed," Edgar replied impatiently. Terra might be about to lose her head! What were his friends waiting for? Didn't they understand the gravity of the situation?

"Pray tell, why are we going down to the prison cells instead of Gestahl's throne room?" Cyan asked. "Are you looking to be arrested?"

"A friend of ours was taken hostage here recently," Sabin explained. "She was also a-"

"-she helped me through a lot of hard times," Edgar smiled, clamping a strong, firm hand over his brother's mouth. Cyan stared at them suspiciously before moving away again. Sabin took the opportunity to hit his brother who dodged in the nick of time.

"What was that for?" the monk hissed.

"If you'd said that Terra was a former Magitek soldier, we'd be one companion less!" Edgar hissed back. "Think before you speak, won't you?"

"Shut up back there! Someone's coming!" Celes whispered hurriedly. "Everyone, prepare for an ambush!" In a flash everyone was hiding behind the treasure chests and under the bed. True to Celes' word, two Magitek satellites floated into the room, their engines whirring softly.

Without a warning Celes shot a bolt of ice, shattering one of the satellites to pieces. Its partner whirled around quickly, letting loose a huge shockwave at Celes. The general dived out of her hiding place and Edgar let loose a shower of arrows at the satellite. The machine shot a burst of fire at the king, burning all his arrows and blasting him in the chest in the process. Sabin hurried to his brother's aid.

"Edgar!"

"I'm fine, kill the satellite!" the king panted. He wasn't as fit as he used to be ten years ago. At that moment the satellite let loose another burst of fire. Picking Edgar up, Sabin narrowly escaped the fire as it landed on the stone floor and was promptly extinguished.

"Let me try my luck!" Setzer shouted, throwing a pair of sharp-edged cards at the satellite. They grazed the machine's surface, leaving a mere scratch. Cyan laughed heartily.

"Your little scraps of paper are useless! Behold, flurry!" With one fluid motion the samurai quickly dealt four blows to the whirring satellite. The metal was slightly dented, but the creature was still alive. It released an ice beam, grazing the samurai's shoulder plate.

"Fools! This creature is most susceptible to magic!" Celes shouted, releasing another ice beam. Locke managed to steal a potion and a reflect ring from the creature before the ice beam made contact. The satellite finally exploded, fragments of sharp metal flying in the air. Sabin shook Edgar, who was coughing slightly.

"Edgar! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine-that fire blast sure knocked me off my feet, though," the king smiled weakly and Celes looked at him.

"I would heal you if I could, but I'm afraid I've just used up my magic. I'm sorry," she said softly.

"I can heal him with my blitz," Sabin offered. "It's a new technique so chances are I'll use up most of my energy."

"Don't bother, then. Compared to your punches, that fire blast was a mere scratch. Ha, ha!" Edgar joked lamely. Setzer raised an eyebrow.

"Perhaps my Mysidian rabbit will do the trick." It was too late, however. Performing a chant, Sabin raised his arms and green lights danced around the king's body, stitching up the invisible wounds inside.

"Thanks; your blitz does perform miracles," the king said, examining his body. "But you really shouldn't have…you needed all that energy for saving Terra…" Sabin opened his mouth to reply but a loud shout interrupted the rebels.

"Hey, who's there? Show yourselves!"

"Oh no, the Imperial guards are here!" Celes exclaimed. There was no use hiding their presence; the guards were headed for them. "Quick! To the prison cells!"

Without further ado the heroes hurried down the stone steps, ignorant of the sharp decrease in temperature. Above them came the sounds of several guards running down after them.

"There are about ten of them," Setzer panted. "They're really overestimating us!"

"Have faith, Setzer. Shouldn't you be saying, 'underestimating'?" Locke joked weakly. "In any case, their numbers don't count until we're forced to stand our ground and fight!"

"At this rate we should just surrender ourselves," Cyan observed. "Fighting to the death is honourable, but sometimes it's better to run away and live to fight for another day!"

"Glad to see that you don't have the typical samurai glory rules," Edgar muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

The rebels finally reached the flat ground. The prisons were dimly lit, cold, and dusty. A rat scuttled past Locke's feet and the thief jumped back in disgust. "I hate rats," he explained rather lamely. Nobody heard him; they were all too cooped up in the moment.

"Quick, we've got look for Terra!" Edgar yelled, and the Returners immediately scattered (all but Setzer and Cyan, as they still had no idea who Terra was and so stood guard at the entrance to the prison) and searched each cell desperately for their friend. The persistent marching of the Imperial soldiers' boots on cold stone floor grew louder.

"We can't carry this on for much longer," Sabin shouted. "Sooner or later the soldiers will come, and then we'll have to hide!"

"Over here!" a weak voice whispered hoarsely from a corner in the prison. Edgar was the first to hear it and without hesitation darted quickly over. He saw Terra lying curled up, naked, her fragile, thin body shivering with cold. He gasped.

"Someone unlock this door!" The king growled. Locke immediately joined his friend's side.

"Edgar…the soldiers…"

"I don't care! Get this cursed door out of the way!" the king ordered. All he could see was the frail form of the girl and the door that barred his way. Without waiting for Locke's reply he extracted his chainsaw from his tools pack and sawed at the door's hinges. After what seemed like eternity the door creaked and gave way. The king dropped his chainsaw and hurriedly rushed to the girl's side.

"Terra! Are you okay? Open your eyes! Speak to me!" the king pleaded.

"King…Edgar?" the green-haired girl trembled. Her lips were purple. She opened her eyes. They stared vacantly into space. "I'm cold…"

"Take my cloak," Edgar draped his cloak around the girl and hugged her close to him, wishing that all his body warmth would somehow be transferred to her. "I'll keep you warm, you're safe now," he whispered tenderly.

"She's already safe. With us," an all too familiar voice cackled, and the king felt cold metal through his shirt. He stood up slowly without turning, Terra still in his arms.

"Edgar, let go of Terra! Your life's at stake!" Setzer cried. Everybody but the king was held by soldiers, hands behind their backs. "If you don't let go of her, you'll be ki-"

"Silence, fool!" Kefka snarled, slapping the gambler. "I'm the one who's going to give orders around here." He turned back to the king, grinning evilly. "But what that filth says is right. Drop the girl, and your life will be spared. I'll give you three seconds to let go of her. One-"

"Let go of me," Terra mumbled into Edgar's shirt.

"Never; you're cold, and I plan to change that," the king smiled in spite of his situation.

"Two-"

"You'll be killed. Let go of me!" the girl's voice was wild.

"Please, let me keep you warm just a little longer-"

"Thr-"

Terra suddenly released an ear-piercing shriek as she writhed out of the king's arms. Surprised, the king dropped Terra and she fell to the ground. The girl looked at the king. His eyes portrayed confusion and betrayal. Terra felt her stomach twist but she had to play her part.

"Stay away from me," Terra spat. Oh, his body had been so comforting and warm…tears trickled down her cheeks and she wiped them furiously away with her dirty arm. "Stay away."

"Listen to the filthy half-esper, Edgar Roni Figaro," Kefka sneered. "Guards, take this man and his evil followers away!" The king felt two guards approach him and seize his arms from behind. He did not resist. Kefka turned, his eyes glinting maniacally with triumph and cruelty.

"You're all lucky that the emperor is feeling rather tired today. Emperor Gestahl shall deal with you tomorrow. Of course, if I were the emperor, I would have done differently…" the minister disappeared into thin air but his laughter echoed in the prison walls.

The Returners were thrown unceremoniously into individual cells. Locke, Sabin, Cyan and Setzer all beat wildly at their doors, eager to find a way out. Celes, however, sat calmly. She knew that there was no point in trying to escape for now. She knew that the Empire was famous for its torturous, frigid prison cells.

Edgar stared sadly at Terra, who was in the cell next to his. The girl stared straight back at him. "Why…?" he mouthed sadly.

Terra did not reply. She stared at him a little longer before turning over on her side and curling up to sleep.

* * *

_Omake:_

_He suddenly stepped aside, allowing the four travellers to gaze at a grand machine. It was a fine mahogany brown in colour and the engines hummed smoothly. Even Edgar, who was a champion of technology, was amazed by what he saw._

_"Do you like it?" __Setzer__ glanced at __Celes_

_"It's-wonderful," the general breathed, although inside she was not so impressed. With just one word she could blast the machine to bits.__ Of course, one should always question theories and ideas until they were proven._

_"Ice beam!"_

_A bolt of ice flew from the general's fingertips. The airship suddenly exploded and people were thrown to the ground, screaming. __Setzer__ stared at __Celes_

_"What was that for?"_

_Celes__ shrugged sheepishly. __"Just satisfying my occasional craving for destruction?"_

* * *

A/N: As I said above you'll have to wait until Feb. 10th to get the last chapter, so please, no flames! In any case this chapter is the second last one and so you should try and motivate me into writing more…no? 

Thanks for reading! Please review!


	8. Chapter 8: The Decisive Battle

* * *

**Chapter 8: The Decisive Battle**

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VI.

A/N: Sorry, the fact that the last chapter was bad in comparison to the others was really bugging me, so I replaced it! Hope you'll enjoy this modified version better! 

* * *

All was dark and quiet, and a chill wind blew through the cold prisons of Vector. A rat wriggled in a dark corner, the dust rising in small clouds around it, making it seem as if the rat was dancing a strange dance. The only source of light came from the moon, which hid shyly behind the clouds, as if afraid to reveal itself to the imposing walls of the building. The prisoners themselves lay asleep, some writhing in pain, others tossing and turning. Only Terra Branford remained awake, staring at the moon with large, fearful eyes.

She was confused and frightened, but she had no idea why. She only knew that the feeling had been with her since the capture of her friends. She licked her lips and for the billionth time went through the events in her mind. Edgar had found her. She envisioned his expression. Shocked, disbelieving. He had then begun to saw at the bars that separated him from her. What was his expression then? Angry, desperate. And then when he had finally reached her. Hugging her, warming her to her heart, muttering softly to her. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around her, wishing he were back with her. What was his expression then? Content, soothing yet desperate…and finally, when Kefka had come and he refused to let go of her…Desperate, shocked at her having pushed him away…Terra opened her eyes as another feeling filled her.

She hadn't felt that tickly feeling in her stomach in a long time. She stared at the cold, hard ground, confused. How was it that only the king could cause this feeling? This strange, alien feeling? And what about her fear? Terra thought for a moment. Perhaps she was scared by the emotions in Edgar's eyes. Betrayal, confusion, shock. Or maybe even when he was sawing away at the bars of her prison cell. Desperation, urgency, mania…She shivered.

The girl was so deep in thought that she didn't notice the guard standing in front of her. She squeaked in surprise as he kicked her. "Quick! To your feet!"

Terra scrambled to her feet. "Where are we going? What time is it now?" She hissed. Somehow the time suddenly seemed important to her.

"We are going to see the Emperor," the guard said in an indignant manner, and then shoved the girl roughly. "Move it!"

Terra stared at the guard. "You're tired," she said suddenly. "You've got bags under your eyes."

The guard stared. "So what?"

"What time is it?" the girl asked persistently.

The man glared at his captive. "It's near midnight, now move it! Stop trying to stall for time!" he growled.

The girl was forced down several corridors to a grand throne room. It was much greater in size compared to Figaro's, but she nevertheless preferred the cosy welcoming hall to the large, forbidding one. Like Figaro, however, several paintings and tapestries of strange men she had never seen before hung on the walls. Terra stared, puzzled.

"Those men are my great ancestors. They are the ones who made all sorts of great discoveries about espers. Discoveries that have helped my campaign," a voice rumbled. Terra's gaze darted to the front. Emperor Gestahl sat in a mighty throne, his minister, Kefka, by his side. Although the two were only on a small platform, they seemed to loom over the girl. Anger flooded Terra.

"What do you want with me? What do you want with my friends?"

"Your friends? You mean, the Returners? The pesky brats that have been scurrying around trying to foil my plans? Don't make me laugh, Terra. You know just as well as I do that all their efforts are in vain. I don't know why you try to help them," Gestahl replied calmly, a cruel smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "But while we're on the subject of the Returners, allow me to get to the point." The emperor suddenly stood up and his extravagant fur cloak whirled about him. He pointed a finger at Terra. "Tell me about them and all their secrets!" he demanded.

Almost at once Terra felt her head spinning, threatening to send her whirling into a vortex of confusion and terror. She recognized the familiar after-effects of the slave crown but strove to hide them. Her legs felt like jelly and it took all her strength to simply stand. Seeing her sudden weakness the soldiers supported her. Kefka cackled.

"Still feeling the after-effects of the slave crown? Don't worry, my dear, all that will be over when we place it back on your pretty little head! Uwee-hee-hee!"

Terra shivered but she looked at the emperor with strong, defiant eyes. "You'll never get me to talk!" she exclaimed.

Emperor Gestahl raised an eyebrow. "Oh, is that so? But I have forgotten that King Edgar was kind enough to take care of you for a few days. Perhaps it would be wise to tell us about your host, that _we _in turn may take care of him!"

"What do you take me for, a fool?" the girl snarled. "I've already told you; you'll never get anything out of me!"

"I'd think before I leap if I were you, Terra," Kefka snapped his fingers, and suddenly the girl grew feverish. She cried out as a pain shot through her stomach and began to build up. It was as if an evil monster had suddenly invaded her body and was eating her from the inside out. The soldiers dropped their captive, who fell to the floor, writhing under the greedy, hungry eyes of the emperor and his minister.

As Terra writhed all she thought about were her friends. Celes, the general with a bigger heart than everyone thought. Locke, the mischievous, fun-loving thief that had made her feel wanted and welcome in the Returners group. But Edgar. Oh good heavens, Edgar. She'd never get the chance to feel safe and warm in his arms again. Never. The girl closed her eyes and tried to lie still, resigning herself to her fate. She was going to die.

All of a sudden Terra heard a loud snap and the excruciating pain disappeared as suddenly as it had come. She lay on the ground, confused, and then tentatively sat up. Her face coloured slightly as she watched the minister laughing, and anger boiled in her once more. She felt humiliated for having been subject to his torture, but she couldn't use her powers just yet. The timing had to be perfect.

"Terra, if you continue to be stubborn, I will get impatient and tell Kefka to simply finish you off," Gestahl sighed, clucking his tongue.

"Dying is better than betraying my friends," Terra gritted her teeth, and Kefka cackled.

"Anything goes. Even you should know-" the minister leapt lightly off the platform and advanced towards Terra, step by step. He reached her and whispered softly into her ear. "-no matter what happens, you and your Returner friends are going to die."

"Maybe, but not here, not now," Terra replied coolly. "The Returners will survive this!" she announced defiantly. Kefka raised an eyebrow and snapped his fingers, and Terra went back into her uncontrollable spasms of pain. The minister spat at the girl and snorted with derision.

"Fool! How can you continue to say such things when there is so little hope left for you? Then again, you're only a foolish half-breed, and your father was little more than a part of an undeveloped, stupid race!"

Although her mind was fuzzed with pain the girl could still hear everything Kefka had said. She'd had enough; she could endure torture and insults alone, but insults directed at her father could not go unpunished! "Firaga!" The words came before she knew it.

A huge firebolt shot from the tips of her fingers and flew, roaring, at the surprised minister. Although it did not harm him it knocked him to his feet. Almost at once Terra's pain disappeared and she scrambled to her feet, eyes ablaze with anger.

"You shall feel the wrath of my father and his comrades. Thunda-" she was so furious that she had not noticed the soldiers that had crept up behind her. One seized her arms 

while the other bound her mouth with a gag, rendering her helpless. Kefka jumped back up, his expression one of shock and fury. His hair was a mess, the feathers in them bent and scrawny against the formidable background. His robe was slightly singed at the bottom and the minister waved his hands and hopped to and fro like some sort of jester. It would have been a comical scene if not for the gravity of the situation.

"You little brat, I'll get you-"

"Kefka, you have done well. Let me take over from here," Gestahl rumbled, and the two looked at the emperor in surprise. In the drama that had taken place they had both forgotten the grand emperor standing calmly on the platform. He suddenly made a gesture into the shadows.

"Cid!"

A stout man with small, nervous eyes like those of a wary mouse stepped forward. "Yes, my lord," he stammered slightly.

"Go to the espers factory and check on our little guests."

"Yes, my lord." With a small bow the man disappeared once more into the shadows. Terra stared at the emperor all the time, her lip quivering.

"W-Why are you checking on the espers?"

The emperor roared and tapped his head. "How amusing. I don't know-maybe because they have all mysteriously disappeared from their capsules?" he said smugly. Beads of sweat broke out on Terra's brow.

"How?" she asked weakly, although she knew her secret was discovered. But, perhaps, if by some miracle…

Unfortunately, Terra was not so lucky.

"How did you contact the espers? What did you do to them?" Gestahl demanded. Terra opened her mouth to deny everything that had happened between her and the espers, but then the emperor added, "Before I kill your friends."

Terra's eyes widened. "You wouldn't," she objected weakly.

"Are you implying that the Emperor is too weak and pathetic like you to kill others? Don't make me laugh," Kefka cut in. "Emperor Gestahl is righteous and justice will always prevail, even if it means the loss of human life! Uwee-hee-hee!" Gestahl gave the girl a thin-lipped smile.

Terra lowered her head so that her bangs covered her eyes, shaking with anger and hatred. She could protect the espers' secret but only if she was willing to give up the lives of her friends. There was no way she could do that! Terra felt tears of shame and defeat begin to run down her cheeks.

"Magicite. When espers die, they become magicite, which is their purest form of magic."

"Are you suggesting that our methods of extracting magic from espers are not as effective as…this…magicite?" Emperor Gestahl queried. Terra hung her head in shame. She had not wanted things to turn out like this.

"Yes."

At that moment Cid, the man Emperor Gestahl had summoned to the esper laboratories, returned. "Emperor Gestahl, all the espers have disappeared from their capsules! Where could they have gone to?" the man cried.

"Shut up and listen," Kefka snapped impatiently. After Gestahl had taken over, everything immediately became extremely boring. The minister found the emperor's way of gleaning information very tedious.

"So Terra, the espers have killed themselves and come to you so that you could receive new powers," the emperor mused. "How very interesting. I suppose you'd be willing to share some of this magicite with us."

Terra smiled in spite of her situation. "Unfortunately for you, Emperor Gestahl, I have absorbed all of the magicite. You won't be able to get any of it for yourself."

The girl watched as the emperor's face slowly turned white with rage. Kefka, seeing that his emperor was not going to reply anytime soon, took control of the situation. "You selfish brat! Not thinking of the ones who brought you up! If what you say is true, then you, too, will turn into magicite when you die. I suppose you want us to kill you then?"

"No, I will not turn into magicite! There is still the human part of me-I will not turn into magicite, and you will not have any power for yourselves!" Terra cried indignantly.

"If that's the case, then…" Kefka snapped his fingers and pain welled up inside Terra's stomach like a bubble waiting to explode. The minister whistled and two soldiers entered carrying a slave crown. The minister placed it lovingly on Terra's head, and the girl's eyes glowed red before returning to their normal colour. Kefka snapped his fingers so that the girl would feel no pain. Not that she could, anyways. The new slave lay, seemingly unconscious, on the floor.

"Stand up," Kefka commanded. The girl stood up and stared at the minister, her eyes dead. Kefka turned to Gestahl, who now sat on his throne watching the two.

"Emperor Gestahl, I present to you your new slave," the minister said in a mocking tone. Gestahl laughed.

"Every time you take my place I am reminded of why I made you my head minister. You have done well, Kefka. I thank you for the gift." The emperor then addressed Terra. "Terra Branford, you shall not use magic unless I tell you to, and you shall address me as 'Master'," Gestahl roared as the girl's eyes flashed red.

"Yes, master…"

* * *

"Locke, hey Locke, wake up!" the thief groaned as he heard a familiar voice calling him. He sat up and swayed slightly, dazed, and looked for the source of the voice. He spotted a certain king waving frantically to him from another cell. "Where's Terra?"

"For goodness sake, Edgar, how in the world would I know?" Locke asked irritably. "I just want some sleep…" Suddenly the day's events came rushing back to him, and his eyes widened. "Where the hell are we? Please, let this be a bad dream…"

"Hate to admit this, Locke, but this is reality," Edgar interrupted firmly. "So wake up and face the music. Where's Terra?"

"Terra Terra Terra, is that all you can think about? We have to try and get out of here first!" Locke exclaimed impatiently. "You're a technology genius, Edgar, think of something!"

The king stared sadly at the floor. "I can't. Not when I think about how we could have saved Terra."

The thief stared. "How? There was nothing we could do, not with the large numbers of soldiers surrounding us."

The king exploded. "Nothing we could do? You've got to be kidding me! I could have made a diversion after Kefka had left, and then Sabin could have used his blitz to reach Terra and take her to safety!"

"Um, I know I'm not that bright, but even I know that that's not going to work. Number one, that's totally fantastical, and number two, I can't use my blitz all the time. My fist will break if I try to use it several times." Sabin objected. He had evidently been awake.

"Well then, Celes could have carefully aimed her magic at the soldiers and kept them off Terra!"

"Edgar! Stop rambling!" the general said sharply. "The bars are not aligned, so I wouldn't be able to reach Terra's cell from here. And what's the point of mourning over what's been and done? Pull yourself together and stop being an idiot!"

There was an awkward pause. "I'm sorry," the king said finally. "I just…over-reacted. But…where's Terra?"

"Your friend might be with Emperor Gestahl," Setzer said. "I woke up and heard some soldiers yelling at one another and I heard some voices speaking, but that could have been some other person." All the Returners were awake now.

"Curse them!" Edgar swore. "If I had my drill, I'd-"

"Glad to see you're all awake. Let's go-Emperor Gestahl summons you!" a rough voice cut in. A group of about ten guards stood outside the cells. Locke glared at all of them with hatred.

"Why should we?"

"Locke-" Celes said in a warning tone.

"Don't you see? Your so-called 'emperor' is corrupt and only seeks to destroy the world and the life on it! He has already taken millions of lives!"

One of the guards, evidently the leader, regarded the thief with an amused expression. "I admire you for your daring. You bad-mouth our emperor, even when he holds your life in his hands. But enough of this silly talk." The guard unlocked the jail door and flung it open. The other nine guards surged in and seized the prisoners. "Move out!"

"Let go of me!" Cyan screamed as the soldiers attempted to seize him by his arms.

"Stop your complaining, Cyan. We must hear Gestahl and his petty little reasons for wanting to rule the world. Perhaps we may get something out of it," Celes soothed.

"Words of wisdom are about to be spoken," the guard agreed. He had misinterpreted the general's words.

"Perhaps you will be able to witness the righteousness and justice of Emperor Gestahl and his Empire again, General Celes," another soldier sneered.

"Righteousness and justice? Emperor Gestahl? Don't make me laugh," Celes snorted in disgust. "There is righteousness and justice in this world, but not with that evil man!"

"Don't speak like that about my emperor!" the leader slapped Celes and then barked at the other soldiers. "Now move out!"

The Returners were half-dragged, half-shoved through countless corridors, many of which were frigid and dimly-lit. Although she was being treated roughly, too, Celes walked ahead of all the others with a straight back and unblinking eyes. Weary of his prisoner's boldness the guard leader approached her.

"Do you still think you have permission to walk about Emperor Gestahl's castle as if you owned the place? I think not," the guard leader shoved Celes. The lady general stumbled but did not falter in her calm, cool step.

"Commander Nighes, I know you well. You are a loyal, brave man, but I know you hate Kefka and his evil plans."

The guard leader looked at Celes in surprise. He had been caught off guard. "D-Don't say that, y-you-"

"You hate it every time you have to carry out his orders."

"I-"

"But you carry them out, because you're a loyal man. But think: you _hate_ the orders given you by Kefka, and all of them are in the name of your precious Emperor Gestahl!" Celes' eyes searched her captor's for a reaction.

By this time the guard leader was shaken. His lower lip trembled and his hands shook. He stared at the general with small, scared eyes.

"General Celes, you even remembered me…?" he mouthed, and Celes nodded. There was a pause in which everyone stared at the former general and the commander.

Suddenly Commander Nighes slapped Celes with a force that threw her to the ground. Locke quickly fought the soldiers aside and ran to the general. "Celes!"

A sharp blow knocked the thief out, and Celes looked up at the commander wielding a steel rod. It was almost as if he had transformed. "Stop being so insolent and do not address me by my name!" the commander spat. "Or you'll end up-" he pointed at the thief. "-like him."

The general gazed directly at the commander. "I'm disappointed with you," she said almost inaudibly, and helping Locke up, followed her captors.

After five minutes of endless walking the Returners entered the large, grand hall. Edgar whistled as he observed his surroundings.

"Hm, not bad. When I get back to Figaro I should try and get some nice paintings to decorate my hall. These ones, however, look a little too forbidding for my taste," he said cheerfully as if he were at an art museum. Setzer looked at his companion, one eyebrow raised. Edgar had definitely gone crazy without Terra. It was obvious.

"I'm glad you approve, but I'm afraid, you won't be going back to Figaro. At least, not for a while," at that moment the Returners noticed the emperor and his evil minister. Both stood on a platform at the other end of the hall. "We must simply return your kindness. We sincerely thank you for taking care of Terra for us while she had gone astray." The emperor smiled evilly. At the mention of Terra the king's face paled.

"Where's Terra?"

"Don't worry, Terra's safe in our care. She has gone astray, but thanks to your loving care she is back with us," the emperor laughed, chilling the king to the bone. "Before she arrives, however, let us entertain you. Or rather, you entertain us."

"And how do we do that?" Edgar asked through gritted teeth. Celes glanced, worried, at the king. She had never seen the king so aggravated before. Somehow she knew the king well enough to know that he would act rashly. Especially if something he loved was at stake.

"It's very easy, really." The emperor gestured at a small, obscure door in a corner of the hall. "Through those doors will come a beast of some sort. You must fight off those beasts, one by one, until I am satisfied with your performances. Of course, fighting together would be too easy; therefore I have arranged one-on-one battles."

"When exactly do these battles start?" Celes asked coolly, although her throat was dry. She knew the answer well enough but even then she had to ask. Kefka threw his head back and laughed.

"Has spending time with the Returners softened your brain, _former _General Celes? I certainly believe it has," the minister laughed. "We shall hold the fights now!" At a sign from the emperor Kefka gestured at the guards. "Open the doors!" A guard standing at the side pulled a lever, and the doors gave an angry hiss and began to swing open. Gas escaped from the widening gap, and the Returners stared in dismay. Kefka began to cluck with his tongue.

"Will it be a huge, ferocious monster or a magical creature that will make you die slowly? Oh, no-" immediately began to sweat with dread and cold fear. Could their opponent be…?

A girl with green hair tied up in a ponytail began to form. She wore a red dress that reached down to her knees and red boots lined with gold. Around her waist she wore a belt, on which two potions and two ethers were hung, and around her head was a steel band with strange symbols carved into it. Celes' eyes widened.

"Terra!"

Kefka feigned surprise as he looked at his emperor. "Emperor Gestahl, are you sure you haven't made a mistake?"

The emperor grinned back at his minister. "Of course I'm sure. Emperor Gestahl _never_ makes mistakes." At that moment a pink, almost-transparent barrier appeared, separating the large platform from the Returners. Gestahl threw his head back and laughed as his prisoners looked at him desperately. "Now, who will try Terra's newfound powers first?"

"Newfound powers?" Sabin broke in. "Terra's already powerful!"

"Oh, so you don't know?" Kefka was grinning from ear to ear. "Well, no matter. You can find out for yourself. Now who will fight Terra?"

"I will," Locke said feebly. Celes looked at her companion as he lifted his head to look the emperor in the eyes. "I'll take Terra on."

"No, Locke!" the general protested. "You can't! You're too weak, what with that blow you took…"

"Locke, you need to rest. I'll make sure you get all the rest you need when we get back to Figaro," Edgar cut in firmly, stepping in between the thief and the girl. "I'll take care of Terra." The emperor raised an eyebrow, an amused smile flitting across his face.

"When you get back to Figaro?" Ho, King Edgar, you are quite the optimistic one."

The king smiled back, undaunted. "I was always known for being optimistic and big-headed," he joked. And then his face turned serious. "But I'm going to take Terra back, no matter whether I die." With those words the king approached the girl softly. Locke attempted to stand, but slouched down onto the floor instead.

"Edgar, don't-" the thief pleaded. "Terra's-"

"Firaga!"

At that moment a loud explosion sounded and the king was blown backwards. Edgar fell to the ground and Sabin hurried to help him up. "Brother! Are you alright?"

"I just fell back from an explosion! What do you think?" the king shouted through the smoke, but there was no malice in his tone. Inside, however, the king was disappointed. Did Terra hate him?

Locke groaned. "Edgar you fool, Terra wouldn't attack you of her own will! She's got a slave crown on her!" It was as if he'd read the king's thoughts. There was a shocked pause as everyone absorbed the information. Finally Setzer spoke.

"Edgar, you can't approach the girl that way! She's too strong! She'll kill you!" the gambler shouted. Although he had clean forgotten Terra's name, what he said was logical; if the king was too gentle, he would be no match for Terra's 'newfound' powers. Edgar waved Setzer's words away as if he were swatting a fly.

"Nonsense, I'm fine! And I know that somewhere in Terra-" the king grinned. "There's a rebellious part. One that's crying out to be freed, to go against Gestahl and his evil ways. All I have to do is awaken that again and then she'll be able to free herself." Using Sabin as a prop to help himself up, the king staggered forward onto the battlefield again. He looked at the girl in front of him and sighed, annoyed.

He couldn't help thinking it, but oh, how beautiful she looked, even now! Her soft hair framed her blue eyes and emphasized her gentle, red lips, while her dress only served to show off the curves of her body. The king shook his head. If he could not restore Terra to her senses he might lose her forever. Slowly, the king approached the girl, not wishing to alarm her.

"Terra…it's me, Edgar…"

Kefka laughed so hard that tears ran down his cheeks. "Are you crazy, King Edgar? Don't think Terra has fallen for you-she never has, and she never will!"

The king ignored the minister and continued his slow, careful approach. "Terra, I'm King Edgar of Figaro. Remember the first time we met? I do. You had a special gag to stop you from using magic. You were also very frightened." Sabin gawped at his brother. It was as if he were talking to a little child.

"Edgar! Sentimental talk isn't going to soften Terra's heart! Not when she's got a slave crown on," Locke whispered feebly, but the king continued talking.

"I withdrew a dagger from my cloak, remember? You thought I was going to kill you, but I released you from your binds." And while he was babbling, the king saw something move behind Terra's eyes. Hope rose in him. Could it be that Terra was beginning to come to her senses?

"Blizzaga!"

The king was blown off his feet for the second time, but his injuries were more serious. Edgar landed on the floor, coughing up blood, a huge gash in his chest. Cyan shouted to the king from across the room.

"Sir Edgar! Thou must get up, before the girl can hit you again!"

"Cyan, enough! I'm fine…" Edgar began, but he was interrupted by a low hiss from the platform. The Returners looked up to face Kefka, who wore a sneer on his face.

"You'll never release Terra from the slave crown!" the minister cried out loudly. "Her will is not strong enough for that!" he cackled, but inside he felt doubt, a feeling that was unknown to him until now. In spite of that, the minister pushed it aside and pointed a finger at the king, who lay, motionless, on the floor. "Terra! Kill that little pest!"

"Not yet, Terra," Edgar said, and his voice was strangely light and cheery. "I have yet to save you; then I can die. Otherwise, I must live." The king staggered to his feet but stood rooted to the spot, watching as the girl made her way towards him, her eyes emotionless, dead. If he did not do something, he would be dead while his other friends would have to put themselves in his situation. He bit his lip. And then an idea hit him. It was a risky idea, but he had no others.

"Terra, don't kill Edgar! Come to Edgar and turn around!" The king called. At that moment the girl froze. Hesitantly she took a few steps forward towards the king, who ran forward. As she reached him, she turned around. _Gotcha,_ the king thought triumphantly as his fingers reached forward and touched her crown, nudging it ever so slightly…

"Terra, cast a spell on that pest!"

"Thundara!"

A streak of lightning hit the king in the shoulder, and he stumbled slightly and fell to the ground, panting hard as blood spurted from a new wound in his shoulder. To his relief, however, he found that the spell had not inflicted as much damage as before. Perhaps there was still hope.

The king tried to stand up but fell again. Seeing that the king couldn't move the minister laughed triumphantly.

"I thought your _friend_ told you that sentimental words weren't going to get you anywhere. I guess you learned that the hard way. Uwee-hee-hee!" Kefka pointed a finger at Terra who stood motionless, facing Edgar.

"Kill him! Commit regicide! Uwee-hee-hee!" The emperor gazed at his minister, pleased. Kefka was learning from him well. The emperor turned his gaze to Edgar, who lay, helpless, on the floor. "Sleep in eternal rest," Gestahl laughed, his chest heaving.

Edgar watched as Terra began to approach him, her fingers forming a spell that would kill him. He lowered his head. He couldn't watch her. How could he? He had failed Terra. He had failed everybody. And now he was going to die.

A loud explosion sounded, and Edgar's world turned black.

* * *

"_Firaga!" the girl heard a voice shouting into the distance. She could see a red blur shooting towards a figure. Her mind protested, but she ignored it. How could listen to it? She vaguely knew that she had to listen to something, someone, instead._

_Suddenly the girl heard a soft voice. The girl listened hard, but could only catch a few words. "…remember?...gag…cut…scared…freeing you…" The girl tried to scream, but there was no sound. And she knew her body would not listen to her. She suddenly felt her fingers move quickly._

"_Blizzaga!" Ice enveloped the figure and shattered, throwing it to the ground. The girl stared in shock. How could she do this? And then she heard an evil voice._

"_Kill that little pest!" the girl made a move towards the figure, but the figure suddenly rose. She heard yet another man's voice, but this one was pleading and gentle._

"_Don't kill…come to me…turn around…" although she had not heard the whole command, it was enough. The girl approached the figure and turned around. She felt rough but gentle fingers brush against her head, and her mind suddenly felt clearer…_

"_Terra! Cast a spell on that pest!"_

"_Thundara!"_

_The man was blown backwards by the force of the spell. The girl stood, motionless, watching the man as he struggled in vain to rise. Several voices spoke at once, and finally there came another order._

"_Kill him! Commit regicide!" She was about to kill a king!_

_The figure of the man before materialised before her and the desire to kill overcame her once more. This time, however, it was weaker. The girl began to walk towards the figure, her fingers creating the most powerful spell she had. Her mind was still slightly fuzzed, but her will was strong enough._

_She had listened and stood by the sidelines long enough. Now it was time to act._

* * *

"Ultima!"

A loud explosion sounded, and a bright blue light filled the room, knocking everybody to the floor. Edgar slumped to the floor, unmoving, while Celes screamed Edgar's name. Locke, Setzer and Cyan watched helplessly. Even Sabin lay on the ground, watching the mayhem with an open mouth.

The spell, however, missed the king. It flew to the pink barrier, which wavered and broke like an ant-infested wall before a flood and the spell continued on to the emperor and the 

minister. And then the room was filled with a bright light, and the Returners turned their heads away to avoid being blinded. Smoke rose into the air, and the room was silent. And then Terra appeared. Hanging on her belt was the slave crown.

"I've had enough," she said. Celes cried with joy.

"Terra! You're safe!"

The girl fell to the floor, exhausted. "I feel very weak, but at least I'm still alive," she smiled weakly, and then turned solemn. "What about Kefka and Gestahl? Did you see what happened to them?" The girl paused, her heart sinking as she scanned her friends. "Where's Edgar?"

Locke froze. "T-Terra, get away!"

"Oh? I think not," an evil voice spoke. Terra felt a dagger pressed to her neck, and Setzer whipped his cards out from his cloak.

"Kefka! Let the girl go!"

The minister grinned wildly. His clothes were torn and there was blood on his face and chest. "You little brat, your time has come." Terra closed her eyes, and images appeared before her. Images of her laughing as a king tried to scoop a spoon out of an oasis. Images of him standing, proud, tall, straight and unafraid before his enemies. She lowered her head in sadness. She'd never see him again, let alone be able to thank him for all that he had done.

"Terra…" a weak voice whispered, and lo and behold, Edgar appeared, dragging himself forward as best he could. He smiled at the awed faces of his friends. "Gestahl is dead, but what made you think I'd die so easily?" and then he saw Terra and Kefka, and his features contorted.

"Terra! Get away! Do something-"

"Fool! If she moves even one finger, I'll kill her!" The minister spat, and laughed. "You're fools. All of you! What is the meaning of life? Why do people cling to it and build all sorts of things, knowing that someday they must all die, knowing their life's work was all in vain?"

"It's not what happens at the end that matters," Terra replied simply. "It's what you live for, at the very moment, which matters." She smiled. How could Kefka not understand such a simple concept? _He _was the fool.

The minister shrugged. "Fools, wait until I snuff this whole world out and destroy everything that lives in it! Uwee-hee-hee!" He raised his dagger so that it hovered above Terra's head. "And you'll be my first victim! Uwee-hee-hee! Any last words?"

"Edgar," Terra spoke. She would've saved her words for another time, but if she didn't speak now, it would be too late. "When we were journeying to Narshe, I asked you what love was, and you said that love was when you adored the person to the point of dying for him. I think," she smiled happily. "That I've found that love. Thank you so much." She closed her eyes and lifted her face to the ceiling.

"Terra!" Edgar cried, but he was too weak to move. He watched helplessly as the dagger came closer, closer to Terra's delicate neck…

The dagger contacted flesh. Blood spurted and hit Terra's cheek. Celes shouted with relief and shock.

"General Leo!"

A man with blond hair and green armour stood between Terra and Kefka, the dagger planted in his chest. The minister cried in outrage. The general smiled weakly at Celes.

"Before you left, we talked about who was right and wrong. Before I was apprehensive, but now I know that you are right." The general turned to Kefka, his features fierce in spite of his dulling eyes. With the last of his strength he grasped Kefka's hands, lodging the lethal dagger firmly in his chest. "Kefka, I've stood by and watched enough. Now I must act for truth and justice." Finally, Leo turned to the Returners. "Kill Kefka, before it is too late!"

"Fang!" Cyan needed no further invitation. Roaring with a fury like that of an enraged lion, the samurai lunged forward. Kefka screamed, his eyes dilated with shock and anger. Kicking General Leo in the stomach, the minister freed his hands and made an attempt to run, but it was too late.

Cyan's sword plunged into the minister's shoulder, crimson red blood spilling out onto the floor. Terra gasped and looked away, a bitter taste in her mouth. How could Kefka like killing others? It was so brutal and gruesome.

The samurai stared unmercifully into the eyes of the minister, his sword lifted, ready for the kill. "Any last words?" he asked bluntly.

The minister gave an ear-piercing shriek of laughter that rang through the hall and chilled the spines of the Returners. "I must have my revenge," he whispered hoarsely, and before Cyan could react, the minister pointed at Terra. "Firaga!"

Terra felt a hot blast of fire hit her squarely in the chest. The flames burned, licking greedily at the metal that protected her body. Overcome by the heat, the girl blacked out. The last thing she heard was Edgar screaming her name.

_

* * *

_

The girl looked about her. She was in a dark void filled with several strange creatures who were exiting the dark void through a door, one by one. None of them showed the intent to kill, but she was still frightened. Where was she? What did the door represent? Did it lead to light or darkness?

_Suddenly a hand touched her shoulder, and she whipped around to see a creature. He seemed half man, half beast, for although his skin was blue and he had horns, his body was that of a man's. Her eyes widened in recognition._

"_Father…?"_

"_Terra, will you come with us?" the girl's father asked anxiously. "If you are, we must leave soon. Beyond that gate is death." The esper shook his head. "We must cease to exist for humans, or else there will be another War of the Magi. Will you come with me to Paradise? Your mother awaits us."_

_The girl stared at her father. "Must we go? I have friends I must bid farewell to-"_

"_There will be no time for goodbyes," the esper interrupted, and then, in a softer voice, "Terra, your friends will be fine on their own. Now come; the Gate of Death is about to close, and then we will have to roam the earth as lost souls."_

_The girl nodded and sighed, resigned. "As you wish, father." She made a move to follow, but a voice suddenly called her, pulling her back._

"_Terra, speak to me! Terra…no…you can't leave me…"_

_The girl whipped around. "Who's there?"_

_The esper looked, confused, at his daughter. "Terra, there is no one there. What do you hear?"_

_And suddenly, the girl understood. It was as if the sun suddenly shone on her, banishing the clouds of confusion that muddled her mind. "Father, I cannot go with you," she said in a loud, clear voice._

_The esper glanced at his daughter in surprise. "You must, or remnants of our existences will remain in the world. Your friends will cope without you-"_

"_Father," the girl grasped her father's arm. "Leave without me. I am only half-esper-what damage can one half-esper cause? Besides, ever since I met someone, there has been a feeling growing inside me. Now it is like a raging fire, and I cannot stop it. You are wrong, father; if I am wrong and my friends can cope without me, there is still one. I must return to him."_

_The esper paused for a moment, and the two stood silently. Finally, the esper nodded. "Very well, Terra. But unless there is something in you that will allow you to remain…" the esper shook his head and sighed. "Until we meet again." The esper walked to the Gate of Death, and with a nod, disappeared through the portal. Terra watched her father sadly. Suddenly, she felt gravity pulling at her, and she began to fall into a great void…_

* * *

Edgar sighed and stared at his reflection in the window. Ever since that fateful day three weeks ago, he had never eaten or slept so little. He glanced over at the bed and the girl that occupied it, and sighed once more. Frustration and sadness gripped him.

After Terra had been hit by Kefka, she had remained in that comatose state. Even now she slept peacefully, unmoving. The king frowned, worry lines creasing his thin face, anxiety in his deep blue eyes. Walking over to where Terra lay, the king knelt by the bedside and shook her gently.

"Terra, wake up! Terra…" the king whispered, but the girl merely slept on, breathing lightly. The king stared at the girl desperately. Would Terra ever wake up?

_Of course she will,_ Edgar thought. _Of course she will._ But there was still that niggling doubt in his mind that Terra would die, oblivious to his thoughts and feelings…a huge loneliness began to fill the king, and he shook Terra violently.

"Terra! Don't leave me! Say something! Speak to me! You can't leave me like this…" the king stopped, but there was no reply. Resigned, he slouched back in his armchair. "Terra…" he whispered, tears threatening to blur his vision. The king closed his eyes, feeling his tears burn hot trails down his cheeks. Perhaps Terra would never wake up at all…

"Where…am I?"

_I'm in Maranda, _Edgar thought. Even in his sadness the king was surprised. Was he becoming insane, thinking such random thoughts? Was he about to have amnesia? If so, he'd welcome it gladly.

"Edgar?"

"I'm Edgar," the king said aloud, annoyed. Why couldn't he stop thinking up random, silly, obvious questions about himself?

"Edgar, no. Open your eyes. I'm Terra."

"Huh?" the king opened his eyes, and before him sat a girl with long, flowing, green hair and penetrating blue eyes. Terra had never looked so beautiful before.

"Terra, you're awake!" the king quickly brushed away his tears, embarrassed; no man was caught crying!

The girl laughed, a sound like merry bells tinkling. "You don't need to be embarrassed! Everybody cries!"

The king's eyes bulged comically. "I wasn't crying!"

Terra merely giggled and pretended to cuff the king around the head. Suddenly, her face grew serious. "Where are the others? Where are we? What happened when I…?" she looked down so that her bangs covered her eyes. To think that she had nearly deserted her friends!

The king leant back in his chair and sighed. "After you were…hit…Kefka died. It wasn't pretty-his body was convulsing-and his eyes glazed over the way dead people's do..." the king paused, but Terra made no comment. "All the other soldiers tried to attack us but they were no match for us-Returners came to our aid at the last minute," the king continued smugly.

"How did they know?" Terra asked, puzzled. "Only the elder knew, and even then he wouldn't know where we were!"

"We have several links in places other than Narshe, too, you know." The king winked. "So anyways, after we beat the soldiers Setzer flew us back to Maranda. Now the others are out getting supplies. We plan to leave as soon as you're feeling better." All of a sudden Edgar's brow creased with worry. "I'm so sorry! You must be hungry! How bad I am, to forget a lady's needs!" The king rose, but Terra stopped him.

"I'm not that hungry…actually." But she was. Just not for food. She studied the king's face and smiled to herself. In spite of the way he boasted his intelligence, he was, in reality, quite oblivious to what was really going on around him. She bade the king sit down, but he remained standing. To Terra's surprise, a look of betrayal replaced his look of relief and happiness.

"Where were you during those three weeks?" he demanded, and the girl ducked her head.

"I was in…another dimension."

"At death's door?" the king made the words sound like a jest, but his face was sombre. Terra sighed.

"Well, yes. My father was there. I saw him for the last time before he…left…"

"Were you planning to join him?" Edgar shot, grabbing the girl's arm with a vice-like grip. Terra opened her mouth to lie, but decided against it. How could she lie to this man?

"Y-Yes. I-I was."

The king opened his mouth, and then closed it, dejected. "Then again, how have I ever helped you?"

"No, that wasn't what I meant! I'm sorry, I just…no…" she shook her head. "I _was _planning on leaving you all…but then…" she smiled. "…I heard you calling. I couldn't resist. Edgar…thank you." She looked at the king again, her smile widening. "Really, I must thank you for saving my life…twice."

Edgar glanced at Terra in surprise. "You must be mistaken. If everything was as you said, then I only stopped you from dying with your father. But when Kefka was about to stab you, I could do…nothing." The king spat the word out as if he was getting rid of something horrible. "I just lay there, feeling weak. I did nothing! Look at these scars! I haven't even healed properly yet!" The king undid the buttons of his shirt, and sure enough, on his chest were several dark brown scars. Terra gasped.

"I did…this? No, I'm so sorry, let me heal you-" Edgar, however, stopped her.

"It wasn't your fault-I couldn't stop _you _from being harmed by the Empire. This is my punishment," he gave a weak smile. "In any case, these wounds can heal with time, and you are still weak from your close encounter with death; you need to rest."

"No, don't worry about me," Terra said quickly. "And no, Edgar, you saved me twice. Who was there to support me and fight me when I was under the spell of the slave crown? Who brought me to my senses without hurting me?" She smiled. Edgar blushed and looked away.

"But Cyan killed Kefka," he mumbled.

Terra shook her head, smiling. "But I don't care about who killed Kefka." She looked at the king, who was staring at the floor. "I care about the one who saved my life."

"But enough about me," the king said, buttoning up his shirt again. "What happened when Kefka summoned you?"

"Well…" Terra took a deep breath. "He demanded I give them information about the Returners, but I refused. In any case…they angered me with their talk and I used my magic. The espers had given it to me in the prisons before you arrived, you see…" she was babbling and crying at the same time, but she didn't care. "…so I killed a soldier who was about to harm me. And then I was forced to talk about the espers and magicite-"

"Magicite?" The king queried.

"The purest form of an esper's powers," Terra said hurriedly. "Anyways, they found out that I'd absorbed all of it, so they put the slave crown on me-" she stopped, biting her lip, and then, in a hushed voice. "-they made me hurt you."

"But I couldn't protect you!" the king repeated. Terra carried on as if Edgar hadn't interrupted, and a small smile graced her lips.

"When you were commanding me, why did you use your name?" she laughed.

The king blushed. "I didn't want the spell to reverse on me, and I didn't know whether the slave crown would allow you to obey a command like that."

"You could've been hurt!" the girl exclaimed.

Edgar shrugged. "Well, if I hadn't tried, you'd probably still be under the command of the slave crown, helping in the effort to destroy Narshe." Terra looked away. "But go on."

"Well, I said my supposed-to-be last words, and General Leo saved me-bless his soul-and then Kefka hit me with Firaga. After that I met my father…you know what happened from there on…" Terra bit her lip. The king suddenly grasped Terra's shoulders, shaking her. The pain in his eyes overwhelmed the girl.

"But how could you even think of doing that…?" he whispered. "We all need you here, Terra. And I must tell you this, before I almost _lose _you again…" The king stared into Terra's blue orbs, summoning all his courage. "…I love you. I love you more than anything in this world. I need you; I'd think of you everyday, even if you were on the other side of the world. And to think that you were going to abandon me!" Terra looked away, ashamed. She felt as if the king's eyes were burning a great hole into her.

"You…love…me?" She asked softly.

It was too late to take the words back. "Yes, I do!" Edgar exclaimed, and suddenly let go of Terra as if she had just burned him. He turned away. "But you love Locke, don't you? I helped you find love-with another."

"No, that's not it!" Terra felt like laughing all of a sudden. The king was so ignorant of everything around him! "I just said I _might_ like him; you're just drawing random conclusions! No, I don't like Locke-he's got Celes anyways-don't you think they're a sweet couple?" She smiled, and the king scowled.

"Don't try and change the subject, Terra. I just told you my feelings, and when a gentleman does that, he expects the lady to tell him hers," Edgar smiled gallantly, but inside Terra knew he was impatient. Impatient for her reply. She gulped. Her heart was suddenly beating very fast and her mouth was dry.

"I-I love…you," but when it was out, it felt so much better. Terra smiled at Edgar. "I love you," she repeated, and watched as a bewildered smile grew on the king's face. Laughing, the king gathered the girl in his arms and nuzzled her cheek.

"Do you know how unhappy you made me during those torturous three weeks?" Edgar exclaimed. "And making me think that you liked that rascal thief!" and without another word, Edgar kissed Terra on the lips.

Terra leant in to the kiss eagerly, throwing her arms about the king's neck. She felt the feeling in her stomach grow, and she experienced several emotions at once, rushing through her like a flood: ecstasy, passion, hope, love. She was aware of the contact her body made with his: lips to lips, arms to neck, chest to chest. She never wanted to leave the king's loving embrace.

But of course, such bliss could not last forever.

"Hey, lovebirds! In case you haven't noticed, we've arrived!" Edgar and Terra shot apart, blushing furiously. Locke laughed and entered the room, Celes, Sabin and Setzer following close behind. Cyan followed after a short pause, mumbling darkly about public displays of affection.

"I suppose our king's gone and found himself a new queen for Figaro," Sabin laughed cheerfully. The king started and blushed even further.

"More than I can say for you," he retorted. "The last time you tried to court that lady from Jidoor-"

"Hey! Enough already!" Sabin protested, and Setzer laughed.

"You were in love?" the gambler roared, and Sabin scratched his head, evidently embarrassed. Cyan cleared his throat.

"Well, we must talk about other things. This love business is rather…unsettling." He coughed, and Celes smiled.

"It's a relief to see you safe, Terra."

"You too, Celes," Terra smiled back at the former general. "I'm sorry I kept everyone waiting."

"I hope your experience wasn't _too _traumatizing," Cyan interjected politely. "Wouldst thou mind telling us about it?

"Stop with your thees and thous," Sabin sighed, annoyed. "I've had to put up with that for three weeks already!"

"Then thou canst surely wait a little longer," the samurai objected, and Locke clapped Sabin on the shoulder, laughing. The monk glared at the thief, who quickly let go.

"Of course, although my story is rather boring compared to yours…" Terra proceeded to narrate the events leading to her awakening. Everyone listened, entranced by her tale, and everyone gasped when she confessed to leaving them behind. When she had finished, Edgar, who had sat on the sidelines longer than he'd intended to, clapped.

"Wonderful narration, Terra."

"I must admit that it was a captive tale," Setzer admitted, smiling. "I knew Edgar was loud, but I didn't think he was so loud that even Terra could hear him in the other dimension."

"I was whispering then! And anyways, even if we were worlds apart, I know that we'd still be able to hear each other if we spoke," Edgar hugged Terra close, inhaling her fresh, spring scent.

Terra snuggled close to the king, knowing that from that day onwards, everything would be alright.

_

* * *

_

Omake (the final one!):

"_Stop with your thees and thous," Sabin sighed, annoyed. "I've had to put up with that for three weeks already!"_

"_Then thou canst surely wait a little longer," the samurai objected, and Locke clapped Sabin on the shoulder, laughing. _

"_Owned."_

_Everyone stared at the thief, and Celes sighed. "Locke-"_

"_Oh, now you've given me reason to beat you up!" Sabin jumped at the thief, who yelled with surprise and scampered off. Edgar laughed._

"_Sabin's encounter with the lady of Jidoor was just plain bad. I guess he's just better with men, eh?"_

_Setzer smiled. "I was hoping just as much."_

_There was silence in the room._

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading, and apologies once again for the anti-climax! :)


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